Awakening
by MikariStar
Summary: Ash and Misty's daughter, Jessie and James' son, a cast of peculiar characters and a whole new adventure about friends, life, Team Rocket, and learning to face the complexity of reality... Sequel to Don't Give Me Diamonds. Can be read as a stand alone.
1. Chapter 1

Ash and Misty's daughter, Jessie and James' son, a cast of peculiar characters and a whole new adventure about friends, life, Team Rocket, and learning to face the complexity of reality... Sequel to Don't Give Me Diamonds. Can be read as a stand alone.

Awakening

Chapter 1: A Good Start?

"You know, if you had just waited, maybe professor Oak would have given you a pokemon." The innocent suggestion was met with a glare, to which the fifteen year old boy at the wheel replied with a quick defense of: "just saying." He referred to the younger Oak, who had taken over his retired grandfather's job several years ago.

The passenger next to him let out a breath. "Like my father, I was born in May, and pokemon journeys officially start in April first. I was born on the first of May rather than the tenth, so my frustration was nine days greater. I had to wait a whole year to play by the rules and now that I'm a month away from eleven I'm finally on my journey. After all that, do you want me to wait more? Of all the days to oversleep, uncle Gary had to pick today, well he can keep his pokemon, I already have one!" She pointed at the Pichu resting on her lap. Though Gary wasn't her biological uncle, he was her father's childhood friend, which made him kind of like an uncle.

After the girl finished her rant, silence reigned over the blue convertible. The boy considered saying that if she had to wait almost a year, waiting a few hours shouldn't matter, but instead he pointed out something else. "Since when do you care about the rules? What about Rocket pride?"

"I'm a Rocket," the girl assured. She ran her fingers through her red hair, brown eyes focused ahead. They were almost to Viridian City. "But just this once I want to do this alone."

Alone meant without help rather than completely alone, the boy assumed. He grinned, the wind going through his blue-purple hair. He knew she was about to continue.

"As the daughter of a champion pokemon master," Ash, "and a respected gym leader," Misty, "granddaughter of another respected gym leader, who is not so secretly the leader of Team Rocket," Giovanni, "there are many expectations from me. Not only that, but also advantages, if I allow it, but this is different. I know dad and grandpa have their differences about Team Rocket, their disagreements, but what I do is something I'll have to decide for myself. Besides, I think I can be both a Rocket and a pokemon master, I'll figure out the balance as I go along. For now I'll take the test and I'll become a pokemon master fair and square! I am a Rocket, but I won't have any advantages because of that while on this journey!"

"It won't be that hard," Jonathan grinned. His blue eyes focused on her for a second, taking in her expression before looking back at the road. "Everyone in the upper ranks of Team Rocket knows you, but the grunts and the general public not so much. They're not going to pull any punches if you become their target. And I don't think they'll give me any special consideration either, even if they recognize me."

"But Johnny, you're not just a grunt," Ashimi reminded.

"That's the point, Ashy," Jonathan pointed out. "I'm a rival." Ashy was something that only he called her.

Her real name was Ashley, her father had not been happy with it. Unknown to the young aspiring pokemon master, it was the alias Ash took when various circumstances forced him to cross-dress, it didn't bring good memories. Yet Misty had become inexplicably fond of the name during a visit to Jessie and James during her pregnancy. It all started with some innocent joking about the anecdotes of their past, and before Ash knew what was happening, Misty was rubbing her belly and calling the baby Ashley. Misty had guessed from the start that it was a girl. Ash didn't mind either way, but at that moment he started wishing for a boy. Then he realized that Ashley was seen as a unisex name in some regions and his hopes of his child escaping it faded away. Because of her red hair and big brown eyes, her resemblance to her parents was obvious, along with her love for pokemon. Misty's sisters nicknamed her Ashimi, a combination of her parents' names. The name stuck to the point where few people even remembered that her official name was Ashley.

"We're here..." Jonathan announced as they drove closer to Viridian City.

The officer on duty, whose name, like her mother's and grandmother's, was Jenny, stopped them at the main street's entrance. Surely she knew Team Rocket controlled the city, the rumors had, over the years, evolved from hidden whispers to silent common knowledge. Nonetheless, she could at least try to do her job. She eyed the driver's youthful face suspiciously. "License," she spat sharply.

With a confident grin, Jonathan handed over his fake ID. It wasn't much of a significant difference, but it did make him a year older, sixteen, old enough to drive, though the car was suspiciously expensive looking. It was from Giovanni, when he found out Jonathan was to be Ashimi's driver. Maybe it was his way to say 'get the journey over with and join the family business,' though Ash never truly had. Of course, Jonathan still had his duties as a Rocket, but Ashimi had not really factored that in. She had simply accepted his offer to drive her because she'd probably have a hard time pretending to be sixteen, and she was anxious to quickly get to wherever her pokemon battles would be.

Finding no excuse to detain them any longer, Jenny allowed the young trainers passage. "Shall we head to the gym?" Jonathan inquired unsure.

"No way!" Ashimi immediately refused. "I can't face grandpa until I'm strong enough to face him in battle!" She drew in a breath after the outburst and continued, "just drive through to Pewter."

Jonathan considered questioning what was the point of starting at Pallet if she was too impatient to wait for Gary to hand out the starter pokemon and rode in a car the whole way instead of catching pokemon at the Viridian Forest and the surrounding areas. Yet he wisely decided not to ask and instead continued driving quietly.

"Stop!" If the driver had been anyone other than someone who knew Ashimi very well, he might have slammed on the breaks in a startle, but he didn't. It was a good thing too, because otherwise the car behind them would have left a screeching line of tire tracks that ended on the convertible's bumper, marring the perfect shiny indigo blue beauty.

Jonathan would have been angry, not that it was his car, it was technically Ashimi's but Giovanni didn't want her to drive it, not yet anyway. By the time she was sixteen, he hoped that she could somewhat control her need for speed, enough not to kill herself at least. "Restaurant?"

"Yes!" Ashimi exclaimed. "Sitting in a car makes me hungrier than I thought."

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Giovanni was busily conducting secret Rocket business at his office in the Viridian City gym, until his focus was interrupted by a tail tickling his nose. He removed the daring Meowth that climbed on his head and set him on the floor. "Ashimi can't get here soon enough..." He grumbled. He had no intentions of letting her win, of course. He wanted her to get that journey done quickly, but even if she was his own granddaughter, his pride prevented him from doing anything other than winning. She would have to earn her earth badge.

Giovanni's long time companion, his loyal Persian, yawned and shifted on the couch. He looked at the female of his kind who was pacing the office. Her time as a Meowth had left her with many battle scars, but they disappeared after her evolution, all except for the oddity of the ruby on her forehead. The red gem protruded like a horn, a hideous deformity by the standards of most Persian, but a beautiful wonder in the eyes of a human. Giovanni's Persian had been with him long enough to acquire his taste for jewels, lucky for her. She was a rarity, like him. knowing about her crush on the boss's pokemon, her previous trainer, a Rocket hacker known as Pixel, gave her to him.

Purry, whom Giovanni lazily, yet with an almost fatherly affection simply referred to as 'girl' thus shared a life with the pokemon of her dreams. It wasn't long before Giovanni found an egg one morning nestled between his priced felines. The child didn't have the peculiar rare coloration of the father, but he certainly had the mischief of his younger days and he probably had it from both sides. Giovanni wasn't in the mood to put up with training the little pokemon and resolved to give him to Ashimi. With such strong parents, he had to become a very useful addition to her team.

xoxox xox xoxox

After a good meal, Ashimi and Jonathan continued out of Viridian City and towards Pewter City. With a sudden revelation, Ashimi looked at the Pichu on her lap. The pokemon was softly squeezing a bottle of ketchup and licking the red drops as they came out. "You're my only pokemon... I can't take on a gym with just one pokemon, what if they say two on two? I'm sure my Pichu can take them both on, but still. That's it, we're going to Mount Moon, step on it!"

"Gotcha," Jonathan smirked and sped up.

xoxox xox xoxox

After another stop at Pewter City they later arrived at Mount Moon. Jonathan parked the car near the entrance and brought up the roof. Ashimi's Pichu hopped on her head as usual. "Johnny..." She made an overly dramatic pause of determination. "I have to do this on my own."

"I understand, I have some stuff to do too. Maybe I can track down some moon stones to send to the boss," Jonathan mused. He knew he couldn't lower his guard with his Rocket duties or Giovanni would have something to say about it.

"Alright! I'll give you a call when I'm ready to head back to Pewter City." Thus the pair went their separate ways, taking opposite directions at a fork in the cave.

Soon, Ashimi could no longer hear Jonathan's fading footsteps. A soft screeching reached her ears and a Zubat perched on her shoulder. "Shoo!" She waved it away. "I want a Clefairy!" She didn't like Zubat, the creatures weren't exactly nice to her when she explored Mount Moon with her father a couple of years ago. She used her cellphone to light her way until the dim brightness of another source came into view. The light became brighter as she approached it, until she no longer needed her cellphone to see where she was going. Up ahead she spotted three Clefairy sitting around a fire. "I got you now... Ready Pichu? Lets get the jump on them, Thunderbolt!"

Pichu jumped off Ashimi's head and attacked the three Clefairy. The pink pokemon scrambled, tripping over each other and making matters worse for them. Pichu didn't even pause, he shot another burst of electric energy at the Clefairy, rendering the three young pokemon unconscious.

"Alright, well done, Pichu!" Ashimi paused in the motion of throwing a pokeball and gave it another thought. "They're too weak..."

"Clefable!" An angry voice called out. "Clefable!" another voice joined in. Those two where notably older than the three Clefairy and they looked a lot stronger, probably the parents. Soon, more voices joined in a chorus of "Clefairy!" and "Clefable!"

"Oh-oh..." Ashimi looked around with concern, but she refused to back down. "Thunderbolt!"

"Pi... chuuuuu!" Pichu attacked once more, again and again none stop. A flurry of echoed voices, double slaps and even hyper beams rained upon them. Pichu struggled to keep up, but he was severely outnumbered. A large Clefable jumped at Ashimi on the attack. Pichu jumped in front of her in a wild charge and took down the Clefable that tried to attack her.

The sound of an incoming text message on her cell phone woke Ashimi from her surprise at having become a target. She reacted by throwing a pokeball at the Clefable before it could fully recover. The ball absorbed the pink pokemon, shook, and with a red bean of light released the Clefable. Wasting no time, Ashimi delivered a swift kick to the pokemon as payback for the earlier attack, "you wanted a fight? You got it!" As the already weakened Clefable was knocked down again, she tried the pokeball once more. The ball shook, but successfully sealed the pokemon inside that time. Ashimi picked up the red and white capsule and turned her attention towards the Pichu. Despite his strength, he was far too outnumbered and couldn't go on any longer. "Pichu!" She dove into the fight to recover her companion and considered retreating, but the Clefairy and Clefable had her surrounded.

The same Zubat from earlier flew overhead, screeching loudly. He let out a series of super sonic waves, causing the Clefairy and Clefable to become confused. Several of the pink pokemon attacked each other in their confusion, creating an opening for Ashimi to escape with Pichu in her arms and Clefable in a pokeball. She ran through the dark tunnels of Mount Moon, instinctually following a light in the distance.

As Ashimi approached the light, she realized that its brightness didn't signify the exit of the cave, it was a blazing fire! In the middle of it she spotted a boy and a Flareon, both recognizable to her. "Johnny! What happened?"

"Ashy!" Jonathan looked at the fire around them and sheepishly place his hand behind his head. "I was collecting moon stones for the boss when a bunch of Clefairy and Clefable attacked. I know it's pillage, then burn, and I wasn't done pillaging, but I had to defend my moon stones, I mean the boss' moon stones. Although I think I might have overdone it with the fire."

"Nah, you think?" Ashimi replied sarcastically. Fortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of flammable material there and the Clefairy and Clefable managed to put the fire out with blizzard and ice beam attacks. Naturally, the pink pokemon were not happy with the human invaders and their pokemon companions. As soon as the fire was out, their attention turned towards them. To make matters worse, the group that had attacked Ashimi before caught up to her as well.

"Maybe we should call a retreat?" Jonathan suggested.

Though usually stubborn, Ashimi had already obtained what she came for and had no problems with the plan. She noticed the same Zubat had followed her and called out to him. "Zubat, use super sonic again!" As the Clefairy and Clafable were overtaken with confusion, Ashimi and Jonathan escaped along with their pokemon.

Once they were outside of Mount Moon, they noticed the sun had set. "I didn't get all the moon stones I wanted, but I did manage to get a few I can send to the boss. Overall, I think that went pretty well."

"Yeah, I did get a new pokemon. I caught a Clafable." Zubat landed on her shoulder wanting to follow her. "And a Zubat," she added. She held up a pokeball, easily catching the pokemon officially. "It's a bit late and I could use a meal. I'll head over to the Pewter City gym tomorrow. I'm sure you and Fluffy are tired too."

"Foxtrot!" He corrected. "You know it's Foxtrot!" Jonathan had heard the name being used as a call sign in a space ship battle movie years ago. He imagined it was based on some sort of super cool space ship battle move and decided to use it as a nickname for his pokemon. It had been a necessity at the time, when Foxtrot was still an Eevee with two other Eevee siblings. The oldest of Flare and Growly's children had been the one to officially become Jonathan's pokemon since the first day of his life, having been hatched months prior to his birth.

"Right, right," Ashimi laughed, as the pair got into the car.

"Should we check into a hotel?" Jonathan inquired, changing the subject.

"No, this will be a proper pokemon journey, so we'll stay at pokemon centers instead," Ashimi decided.

xoxox xox xoxox

Jonathan and Ashimi arrived at Pewter City. Johnny dropped off the moon stones at the local Rocket base and sent in a report about it by email. Then they headed to the pokemon center. They handed their pokemon over to nurse Joy, daughter of the previous nurse Joy who worked there, and settled into a guest room. Soon, their pokemon were returned refreshed and the group was ready to eat.

"Okay, time to have our first meal together with our new friends!" Ashimi released Zubat and Clefable from their pokeballs. Pichu was usually out and Jonathan had called out his Flareon as well. Zubat was well behaved and already making friends with the other pokemon, but Clefable was looking grumpy. This particular Clefable was rather young, probably recently evolved. "C'mon Clefable, don't be such a grouch!"

Clefable fixed her trainer with a deadly glared and quickly slapped her. "Fable..." She growled.

That was it, Ashimi's temper was officially overloaded, "how dare you! You ungrateful little..." A fight broke loose between the pokemon and the trainer. Pichu tried to intervene with a burst of electricity that filled the entire room with a thunderbolt attack. This caused the combatants and spectators to fall to the floor twitching. Pichu wasn't spared, as Zubat fell on his head when he was knocked out of the air. They got little rest that night.

To be Continued

Things are finally getting started. Why wasn't Gary on time that morning? How will Ashimi deal with her unruly Clefable? The answers to that on more will be revealed in future chapters. Next up, we'll visit Pewter City as Ashimi heads off to her first gym battle in Chapter 2: Strength vs. Speed.

Johnny's pillage then burn quote is... do I even have to say it? It's a standard procedure for all criminal organizations that originated in the era of pirates, established by the famed Jack Sparrow. Obviously I don't own the quote from Pirates of the Caribbean or Pokemon itself. If I did, there would be a game where you could play as a Rocket.

Shout outs to Rocketlord6485, Nafa-tali and Destinie for keeping my interest in Pokemon alive. Rocketlord6485, Nafa-tali are also fanfic writers who have created some amazing stories that I highly recommend.

Here's a mini-bio for reference purposes: Ashley Ketchum: The daughter of Ash and Misty, granddaughter of Delia and Giovanni. Most people know her as Ashimi, a nickname from her aunts, and few actually remember her name is Ashley. She has brown eyes and red hair. Her first pokemon, Pichu, is often seen riding on her head like a living hat. She is a month away from her birthday at the start of the story and 11 years old for most of it.


	2. Chapter 2

Awakening

Chapter 2: Strength vs. Speed

The next day, Ashimi and Jonathan headed to the Pewter City gym so she could battle for a boulder badge. "I could really use a water type right now, but that's okay, I'm sure I can still win." She confidently strode in.

The Pewter City gym was filled with unusual sounds that were rather chaotic in nature. Ashimi was greeted by her aunt Lilly, who rushed towards her in a panic. "Ashimi, you like have to help us!" She exclaimed, hyperventilation settling in. "Please, like talk to your grandfather, whatever we did to like make him this mad, we're totally sorry! Just please get him to call back that beast like before the entire gym is destroyed!"

Brock arrived at the arena area as well, looking scratched all over. "I'm sorry, I couldn't catch it!"

Ashimi stared at her aunt and uncle in confusion. She looked at Jonathan in question, but he could only shake his head to indicate he didn't know what was going on. "Now that I think about it, I kind of remember getting a text message, but I was busy at the time and didn't see what it was. Maybe it's from grandpa."

She checked her cellphone and did indeed find a text from Giovanni. 'I heard you were seen heading towards Pewter City. Leaving the Viridian gym for last? A wise choice. I sent the early birthday gift I was going to give you to the Pewter gym, you can pick it up there.'

"Grandpa had a birthday present for me early? Now I wish I had stopped at the Viridian gym, even if it wasn't to battle. I wonder what the present is!" Ashimi exclaimed in excitement.

"Present?" Lilly blinked in confusion.

"The only thing we received from Giovanni was..." Brock's explanation was cut off by a Meowth rushing over.

"Furball!" Ashimi extended her arms and the Meowth jumped into them. His nickname had come from Giovanni, who referred to his Persian's child as 'that annoying little furball.' "You're my present? This is awesome!"

"You'll like take that beast away?" Lilly hoped, "that would be like a big relief!"

"Where did he go? I almost had him!" A boy with squinty eyes like Brock and pink hair like Lilly, ran over to them. "Ashimi? That pokemon is yours?"

"That's right, and I'm here to battle for a badge," she replied proudly.

"As long as the beast is like gone, you can have the badge," Lilly decided. "That creature tried to like eat the rare Goldeen Brock bred for me! It's a really cute Goldeen too, like white and yellow instead of white and orange."

Brand's eyes went wide and he protested. "But mom, we should battle trainers!"

"Right... Battle..." Brock was visibly dizzy with exhaustion and his scratches looked like they stung.

"Your father can like barely stand and it wouldn't like fit to give away a boulder badge in a water pokemon battle," Lilly explained.

Brand frowned, then got an idea that made his face light up. "I can battle!" He volunteered.

"Alright, you're on!" Ashimi agreed. "This will be easy," she didn't even try to hide her overflowing confidence. They had battled before and Pichu had won with ease.

"I'll give you a real challenge, you won't beat me this time, Ashimi!" Brand assured. "Two on two, you must have already caught another pokemon, right?"

"Of course I caught another pokemon and not just one!" Ashimi proudly declared.

'Two is more than one, but didn't Zubat follow her willingly and let himself be caught? Plus Clefable is more likely to attack her trainer than her opponent...' Albeit such thoughts crossed Jonathan's mind, he wisely kept them to himself.

The two trainers took their positions on opposite sides of the rocky gym arena. "This is an official pokemon battle for a boulder badge," Brock tiredly refereed. "Each trainer can use two pokemon, no time limit!"

"I think I'll get things started with Furball, that should give him a good welcome to the team." The Meowth jumped into the arena, ready for battle.

"Go Geodude!" A small Geodude emerged from Brand's pokeball.

Ashimi had a pokedex app on her phone, but she had already scanned that pokemon into her list of seen pokemon before, in fact, she had seen most of Kanto and Johto's pokemon during her travels with her parents. Without giving her cousin time to react, she directed Furball to go on the attack, "water pulse!"

The attack was super effective, knocking out the young Geodude before he could make a single move. "He knows water attacks?" Brand gaped as he recalled his knocked out Geodude.

"I happen to know his mom's a bit battle obsessed, I figured she would know a variety of attacks from her days as a rowdy street pokemon and she would probably teach her son." Ashimi grinned proudly. With Furball and Pichu by her side, she felt unstoppable. "Tell you what, I'll call Furball back for now, c'mon little friend, hop into your new pokeball."

Brock seemed to wake from his sore drowsiness long enough to declare that the round went to Ashimi, not that they couldn't tell.

"Meowth!" The energetic feline jumped into the pokeball Ashimi held out.

"You hadn't even officially caught him, does that count?" Brand wondered aloud, a questioning look in his eyes that was almost hopeful.

"Of course it counts, he's my pokemon!" Ashimi defended. "Now stop being a sore loser and call out your next pokemon."

"Fine... Next I'll choose..." While the pink haired boy considered the matter, his opponent became even more confident.

'The last time we battled Brand only had a Geodude and a Goldeen. If this is supposed to be a rock type battle, I wonder what pokemon he'll use,' Ashimi curiously thought. "Get ready Pichu," she whispered to the yellow pokemon that was still on her head like a living cap.

"I choose Steelix!" Brand called out triumphantly.

"Steelix? That's uncle Brock's Steelix!" Ashimi explained in surprise.

Brock's jaw dropped at the sidelines. He let his son borrow the pokemon for training, but he wasn't expecting for the metal giant to actually be called out to battle. He wasn't even sure how to call this.

Stubborn as she was, Ashimi wasn't going to back down. "Fine, I accept your challenge. This is a gym battle, so I should be going up against a gym leader's pokemon!"

"Wow..." Lilly let out a breath. She gave her husband a pointed look and cleared her throat. "I wonder if it's like okay for young children to battle with pokemon that are like so fierce," she pouted.

"It's okay, honey," Brock assured. "Steelix is gentler than your Gyarados and you let Brand play with her all the time."

Lilly placed her hands on her hips in indignation. "No comparison," she exclaimed. With a starry eyed expression she continued. "My sweet Andraia is like such a gentle creature, the darling is just a big baby." Lilly had raised the pokemon since she was a Magikarp and never really stopped viewing her as such.

While the couple's exchange went on, so did the battle. Ashimi had tried to call Pichu to the fight, but the summoning didn't go as expected. "I choose..." Zubat popped out of his pokeball uncalled. "Zubat?"

"Do you really expect to beat Steelix with a Zubat? No way!" Brand exclaimed.

"I wasn't... I didn't..." Ashimi stumbled over her words, unsure of how to fix this mess.

"C'mon princess, you can do it!" Jonathan cheered.

"That's right, I'm a Rocket princess and I can win any battle!" Ashimi roared. 'I may be taking on this journey without assistance from Team Rocket, I'll just think of Furball as a gift from grandpa rather than the Rocket boss. But I'm still both a Rocket and a future pokemon master, I can do this...'

"Steelix, tackle!" Brand commanded. The massive metal serpent started smashing everything, trying to hit the swift Zubat.

"Keep dodging, Zubat!" Ashimi looked at the battle intensely, trying to come up with a strategy. 'I can't sent Zubat out in a physical attack on that armored giant, he'll probably end up getting hurt instead of Steelix.' "Use super sonic and don't stop moving!"

"Your Zubat can't beat Steelix!" Brand was feeling confident about winning the battle to defend his family's gym. Yet that Zubat was so slippery. "Keep going, Steelix, I'm sure he'll be knocked out right away if you just hit him once!"

Ashimi grinned as she guided her Zubat to dodge the incoming attacks. "Left, right, up, dive! That's it, you're doing great Zubat! Keep using super sonic!" Steelix was confused and trashing all over the place.

"Oh no! The gym!" Lilly shrieked, clinging to Brock as the building shook and choking him in the process.

Jonathan perceived what was going on and smiled, "you got this..."

Ashimi saw a good opportunity for a grand finale and took it. "Now Zubat, fly straight up!"

Zubat swiftly obeyed as Steelix stretched out to follow. The metal serpent crashed into the ceiling hard enough to make a hole in it, Zubat dodging out of the way at the last minute. With a dizzy twitch, Steelix hung from the ceiling, his head outside and the rest of his long body at the arena. He got loose and fell down to the rocky terrain of the Pewter City gym arena, portions of the damage ceiling falling on his head for good measure.

"It's over..." Lilly nearly sobbed, releasing the frightened chokehold she had on Brock.

Brock took in a big breath and grimaced at the state of his gym. "Zubat wins this round," he sighed. "The winner is Ashimi..."

"I won!" Ashimi cheered. Her exhausted Zubat flew down into her arms to be squeezed in a bone crushing hug. "Well done Zubat, take a rest in your pokeball." She headed to the sidelines where she was congratulated and received her boulder badge.

"That was a pretty amazing battle," Brand admitted. "I really thought I was going to win, but you know what? When I beat you, I think I want it to be with my own pokemon."

Ashimi laughed in good humor. "Keep dreaming, kid." She ruffled her cousin's hair.

"You better watch out! In three years I'll go on my own journey, win lots of badges and give you a real fight at the Indigo Plateau!" Brand declared.

"You better be ready, because in three years I will have won the championship three times!" The cousins shared a laugh, promising to battle again sometime soon.

"How about you, Johnny? Want to give it a shot? My Goldeen versus your Flareon." Brand challenged the older boy. He had the type advantage, though Jonathan obviously had more experience.

Before the blue-violet haired teen could reply, Lilly interrupted. "Oh no! There will be like no battling around here until this gym is like fully presentable. Look at this mess, it's like terrible! What will the challengers think when they like see this? The Pewter City gym is officially like closed for repairs and you two are like on clean up duty!"

The father and son stood up straight with a start and saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

"Having some extra help like wouldn't hurt..." Lilly eyed Ashimi and Jonathan purposefully.

The traveling pair backed away. "It was nice seeing you all, I'll email from time to time, but I really got to go now. You know what they say, rare pokemon wait for no one!"

"See you later everyone, if Ashimi's leaving, I need to go too, since I'm her driver and all," Jonathan added.

With a chorus of "bye!" Ashimi and Jonathan made their escape and left Pewter City.

To be Continued

So far things have been pretty easy, but trust me, it won't be that way for long, Ashimi will have her fair share of hard lessons along this journey, as she comes to terms with the realities of life and Team Rocket. Stay on the look out for Chapter 3: Rocket Rival.

Chapter 2 was shorter than the first, but I thought it would be odd to jump into the next topic. I'm focusing each chapter on a particular point of the story, rather than dividing the story whenever I reach a certain word count number, thus they may vary in size, but all that needs to be written will be written. Catching a pokemon, getting a badge, and encountering a rival all seems pretty simple, but starting on the next chapter the first hint of the underlying secrecy of this story will be presented. Oh yes, there's a hidden plot going on that our protagonists are blissfully unaware of, but not for long...

Following the pattern from Don't Give Me Diamonds, I borrowed some character names from Star Wars. Brand is one such case, yes, Brand, not Brad, that's the character's name and also I thought it was funny, because Lilly and her older sisters are probably the kind of girls who love brand name items. You can check out a list of Star Wars characters at Wikipedia, though I only borrowed the names, the characters themselves are nothing alike. I also use Bulbapedia as a reference for pokemon attacks and other details.

Lilly's Gyarados is named after AndrAIa from Reboot. Though most of my name references are still going to be Star Wars based, there are a few occasional exceptions.

Like I said before, I don't own Pokemon and because no one likes to read disclaimers over and over, let's just say it belongs to Nintendo and that goes for all the upcoming chapters.

Here's another mini-bio: Brand: Brock and Lilly's 7 year old son, Ash and Misty's nephew and Ashimi's cousin. He has tan skin and squinty eyes like his father, and pink hair like his mother. He aspires to go on his own pokemon journey and participate in the Indigo League. He holds a friendly rivalry with Ashimi, but actually looks up to her a lot.


	3. Chapter 3

Awakening

Chapter 3: Rocket Rival

Driving past Mount Moon, Ashimi and Jonathan made it to Cerulean City. Ashimi knew she would be facing her mother at the gym for a cascade badge eventually. They had battled for training before, but she knew this battle would be different and she really wanted her mother to give it her all. "The cascade badge will be the second to last before the earth badge."

"To Saffron City then, or do you want to stop at Cerulean even if you don't battle yet?" Jonathan asked.

"There was that upcoming cake shop, maybe it's open by now. Dad and I found it, but it wasn't ready for the public yet. I want to try the cakes are if it's open," Ashimi decided.

Jonathan liked the idea and it was clear to see on his face. "Which way is it?"

"A little out of the way," Ashimi admitted. "Take the backstreets behind the gym and make a... right, I think." They drove past the gym and towards the more solitary streets behind it. "Let's see... I think I recognize this, turn right again in the next one..." They drove a bit further until Ashimi pointed, "over there, make a left!"

The warning came late and Jonathan nearly missed the turn, but managed to make it at the last minute. "Where is it?"

"There!" Ashimi pointed at a tiny shop tugged away in an alley between two apartment buildings. It wasn't the fanciest part of town, but despite its shadowy surroundings, the shop had an inviting look to it.

"I wonder if they get any customers, you can barely see that little shop in the alley." Jonathan observed as they got out of the car and headed into the shop.

An old lady came from the back of the shop and stood behind the counter. Her white hair framed her face, covering a portion of it and her large round glasses obscured another portion. The woman stood silent, staring at the pair as if she'd seen a ghost.

Ashimi was already focused on the treats displayed behind glass, but Jonathan noticed something peculiar about the woman. The way her green eyes sparkled and how what little of her face wasn't covered looked surprisingly smooth, made him wonder if the woman was truly as old as her hair and attire portrayed her to be.

"That one!" Ashimi's sudden voice got them both out of their daze as she pointed at a chocolate cake with rainbow sprinkles.

The lady from the shop placed the cake in a box swiped Ashimi's card through the register and handed it back along with the box. "C'mon, let's go bug mom about making us burgers. I'm not going to battle her officially yet, but this cake deserves a good picnic to go with it!" She gave the quiet teenage next to her a nudge with her elbow. "Hey Johnny, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? We have an awesome cake and you're not even excited!"

"Oh, right, the cake!" Johnny threw the uncertainty to the back of his mind and smiled.

As they were getting back into the car, a girl came down the street waiving. "Johnny!" The girl caught up to the car and leaned over the driver's window, her nose almost touching Johnny's face.

"Dorme?" He wasn't sure what she was doing in the backstreets of Cerulean City.

The fourteen year old girl grinned. Her violet eyes sparkled with a challenge as she twirled a strand of her wavy pale blond hair on her finger. Unlike Johnny, who was in civilian clothes to blend in, she was still in her black Team Rocket uniform. "I'm so glad I ran into you. I was thinking I should try on a new bikini I just bought at the Cerulean City public pool. Why don't you come with me?" She batted her eye lashes in a flirty fashion.

Before Johnny could make himself reply, Ashimi pointedly interrupted. "We were going to get burgers from my mom."

"Oh right, the burgers," Jonathan recalled. "I'm sure the pool at the Cerulean gym is better anyway, and less crowded, maybe we can go for a swim there," he grinned somewhat sheepishly.

Dorme would prefer if they could go for a swim wherever Ashimi wasn't going to be, but she smiled and nodded anyway. "That's a great idea."

"I don't feel like swimming," Ashimi growled. She hated how Dorme was constantly trying to get rid of her.

"You don't?" Jonathan gave Ashimi an incredulous look and touched her forehead. "You don't have a fever, are you feeling sick?"

"I'm not sick, I just don't feel like being in a pool right now!" That was a lie, she loved swimming. "Never mind," Ashimi pouted, "lets just go to Saffron City."

"But what about the burgers?" Jonathan complained.

"They're not for her," Ashimi growled.

"Aw c'mon, I'm not going to steal your food. In fact, I'm sure I eat a lot less than you, Ashimi. I'm a lady, not a glutton." Dorme laughed obnoxiously.

"Are you calling me a glutton?" Ashimi yelled, exiting the car and walking over to stand in front of Dorme.

"Oh goodness no," Dorme feigned innocence. "I'm just pointing out that I'm not."

"Um, girls..." Jonathan tried to stop the upcoming war, but he was completely ignored.

"That's it!" Ashimi pointed at Dorme with an accusing and challenging tone. "I challenge you to a pokemon battle!"

"You're on!" Dorme accepted without hesitation. "Go Oddish!"

"Oddish! Oddish!" The little pokemon seemed rather energetic. She wore a golden circlet around her leaves, making the combination look like a crown. Yet oddly, the centerpiece of the circlet looked like a poor imitation rhinestone, which contrasted with the pretty circlet.

"This will be easy," Ashimi was itching to use a pokemon she had not battled with before and that affected her choice for the worse. "Clefable, I choose you!" Calling out the pink pokemon turned out to be a big mistake, as it only earned Ashimi a slap on the face.

"Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" Dorme laughed loudly while Johnny quietly cringed. "Looks like your pokemon doesn't like you very much!"

"Shut up!" Ashimi quickly recalled Clefable into her pokeball. "I'll deal with you later," she grumbled at the red and white capsule. Dorme wasn't done laughing and the sound was getting on Ashimi's nerves. "Pichu... Annihilate them! Thunder!"

Pichu jumped off Ashimi's head and went on the attack. "Chu!" The rush of electricity was massive!

"Watch it, Ashy, you're battling too close to the car!" Jonathan urged, but his pleas fell upon deaf ears. Without another second to waste, he quickly moved the car to the opposite side of the street and thought it best to witness the battle from there.

"Dodge it, Oddish, and use giga drain!" Dorme was unfazed by the electric attack and had a strategy of her own.

Pichu continued to attack while the slippery Oddish danced around him. Out of breath, the electric pokemon had to stop, swaying from side to side in a dizzy daze. "Pichu!"

The Oddish on the other hand was full of energy, still speedily jumping around with confidence. "You might as well give up now," Dorme gloated. "My pokemon is clearly stronger than yours!"

Ashimi glared in frustration. That Oddish was fast and the potency of her giga drain was something else. Though the electricity that did manage to reach Oddish wasn't enough to cause her any real pain, it did scratch the rhinestone on her circlet to reveal that it was a gray stone underneath. Why would anyone use that as the center piece of an otherwise well made circlet? Unless... "That's an everstone!"

"It is," Dorme grinned, "not that you figuring that out makes a difference for the battle!"

Dorme was clearly about to go on the attack, but Ashimi quickly interrupted before the blond could issue a command. "That circlet looks really tacky!"

"What?" Dorme growled. "It's useful! Besides, I plan to repaint the everstone with glitters and glue new rhinestones to it. When I'm done it will be beautiful!"

"Yeah well, you didn't do a very good job the first time!" Ashimi retorted. 'That's right, Dorme, get angry and keep arguing, that should give Pichu some time to catch his breath.'

"I don't see you trying to make any jewelry! Oh, that's right," Dorme mocked, "grandpa gives you all the jewelry you want. In fact, your family does everything for you because you're a sheltered spoiled brat who can't do anything for herself!"

"That's not true!" Ashimi felt her blood boil. She took a step forward and Dorme defiantly mirrored the action. The angry remarks and venomous retorts continued to be exchanged until the two girls were a mere foot away from each other.

"Girls! Girls!" Johnny rushed over across the street and tried to defuse the situation. "This is a pokemon battle, not a boxing match!" He tried to remind them.

"Mind your own business!" The two girls shouted in unison as they shoved him aside, causing him to fall down on the street.

"I'll show you!" Ashimi growled threateningly, "but first, I'll finish off your pokemon! You think you can trick people into lowering their guard with that everstone trick? It doesn't matter how much you've secretly trained that Oddish, my Pichu is special and has skills few pokemon have!"

"It certainly doesn't look it!" Dorme exclaimed.

"You'll see... Pichu, time to use your secret move!" Ashimi commanded. Pichu visibly stiffened and let out a whimper. "It's okay, you can do it. At this stage it should be just enough to knock him out." The electric pokemon nodded and got ready, focusing as much as he could.

"Whatever it is your going to do, it won't work. My Oddish will drain away all your Pichu's energy!" It looked like Dorme's confidence was unshakable. "Giga drain!"

"Hold back your energy, Pichu, don't let her take it, concentrate!" Ashimi guided. "Try to feel it, sense the flow of energy and let that be the path you follow, build up your power, make it as strong as you can!"

Dorme frowned as Pichu began to glow bright yellow. "Try harder, Oddish!" Judging by the sparks around Pichu, a physical attack would only result in electrocution, and projectiles could be deflected with that same electricity. Dorme concluded that her only choice was to drain away that little lightbulb of a Pichu and have all that power strengthen her Oddish. "Finish this, Oddish, giga drain with everything you have!"

The Oddish focused hard and Ashimi saw an opportunity. The pathway of energy, like a signal flowing through a wire, was clear to Pichu. "Now!" At his trainer's command, Pichu released all his energy at once.

It was too much for Oddish and she was badly electrocuted. The ends of her leaves dried up and broke off, leaving the remaining part burnt and shriveled, her whole body singed and twitching painfully. "Oddish!" Dorme's eyes went wide in disbelief. "No way... I had this battle, from the start, I had it!"

Pichu was breathing heavily but looking accomplished. "You did it, Pichu, I knew you could!" Ashimi cheered.

Dorme clenched her teeth and recalled Oddish into her pokeball. "I'll beat you next time, Ashimi!" Embarrassed by her loss, she gave up on any plans of showing off for Johnny in her bikini, and simply ran away.

"I can beat you any day!" Ashimi called after her retreating rival. She held Pichu in her arms and smiled.

"Good strategy, using Oddish's giga drain against her," Jonathan congratulated. "It's too bad Dorme had to leave though..."

"Forget about her," Ashimi was in too much of a good mood with her victory to complain about Johnny actually wanting Dorme to stay. "Let's just head to the Cerulean gym and get some burgers, then we can eat the chocolate cake for dessert!"

xoxox xox xoxox

After a quick stop at the pokemon center, Ashimi and Jonathan arrived at the Cerulean City gym, where they found Misty. "Hi mom, can you make us some burgers to eat and some for the road?" Ashimi immediately inquired.

Misty shook her head hopelessly and laughed. "What, no how have you been, I've missed you so much?"

"Aw, but it's only been a few days and I have been emailing... But I did miss you, now about those burgers..." Ashimi smiled sweetly.

"I think you've missed my food more than me," Misty laughed. "C'mon you two, lets get cooking and you can tell me all about your journey so far since your last email. I hope you've been keeping her out of trouble, Johnny."

"As best as I can," Jonathan laughed. He was a Rocket, as were his parents, but Jessie and James had become long time good friends of Ash and Misty and they had seen their little boy grow up, so they trusted him.

"Is dad home?" Ashimi asked.

"No, he went to take care of some business with the Pokemon League." Misty didn't specify what the business was, but having become focused on the food she was making, Ashimi and Johnny didn't ask. "You wanted him to watch your cascade badge battle, didn't you?" The Cerulean City gym leader smiled.

"Actually, I'm not here to battle, we only came to eat," Ashimi admitted before amending. "And to see you! Anyway, I want a battle that pushes us both to the limit, not like the training battles you do for other people who want badges. I've already have plenty of training battles and I want to win my cascade badge in a special way. I'll be back for it, then the earth badge will be my final stop. I already have a boulder badge, like I said in my email. I plan to go to Saffron City next."

"I see," Misty always knew her daughter had Ash's competitive spirit. "In that case, I better not neglect my training. I wouldn't want to disappoint you as a gym leader."

xoxox xox xoxox

Ashimi and Jonathan ended up spending the night at Cerulean City. She noticed her room was tidier than she remembered and her collection of gijinka dolls had been neatly arranged. Ash had not returned from his business with the Pokemon League, but the young trainers had a good time swimming at the Cerulean gym's pool.

After packing a picnic basket brimming with food for the road, they were on their way once again. They stopped at the bakery, but it was closed, much to their disappointment. They wondered if it was going out of business already, which would have been a pity because the cake was really good, though not as good as Delia's. Thus without further ado, Ashimi and Jonathan made their way to Saffron City.

To be Continued

Dorme is also another name from Star Wars. Her annoying laughed is based on Naga from Slayers. Gijinka is a name commonly given by fans to human pokemon. As you can imagine, Ashimi's gijinka doll collection is super cute!

Do you guys have any guesses about the mysterious lady from the cake shop? I'm sure it's a bit early for that, but more hints will come later. Ashimi's talk about a "secret move" will be elaborated on later too and Ash's business with the Pokemon League. There's a lot going on behind the scenes that will be slowly revealed over the course of the story. Also Dorme won't be Ashimi's only rival...

See you in Chapter 4: The Shadows In Your Eyes, the next chapter will be intense!

Jonathan Jancen Kojiro: More often known as Johnny, he is the 15 year old son of Jessie and James. A loyal Rocket, he is Ashimi's best friend and traveling companion. He's good at driving various vehicles and does stuff for Giovanni on the side while traveling with Ashimi. He calls her Ashy or princess (as in Rocket princess). (Yeah, I kind of borrowed James' Japanese name as his surname to give the two main characters full names, his middle name is based on Star Wars.)


	4. Chapter 4

Awakening

Chapter 4: The Shadows In Your Eyes (Part 1)

Sabrina was still the official Saffron City gym leader, though usually one of her psychic apprentices took over. She hardly ever battled the trainers who came looking for badges anymore, it simply wasn't challenging at all. Yet Ashimi had the intention of battling Sabrina herself. When she couldn't find her, Ashimi decided to take some time to train her pokemon while she waited for Sabrina to return to the gym.

Albeit Ashimi and Jonathan did make a stop at the pokemon day care center run by Jessie and James at Saffron, which was in reality a secret Rocket trading spot, Ashimi was determined not to get distracted playing with the pokemon. After having something to eat, she decided to go to the outskirts of the city to train.

Jonathan busied himself with Rocket business, leaving Ashimi alone to her training. She let Furball and Zubat out of their pokeballs, choosing not to deal with the difficult Clefable right away. She practiced a few attacks for a while, but she wasn't alone with her pokemon for long.

"Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! If it isn't little Ashimi!" Dorme made her arrival known with her laugh.

Ashimi pouted and glared. "Go away Dorme, Johnny isn't here." She shooed her off as if she was a matter of little importance, albeit of great annoyance.

"Got tired of babysitting you, did he?" Dorme mocked.

Ashimi huffed, "I'm not a kid, I don't need a babysitter, I'm a pokemon trainer!"

"Right..." The sarcasm was dripping off Dorme's voice. "I'm sure Johnny only gives you a second glance because you're the boss's granddaughter. Yet deep down, you're just an annoying kid!"

"That's not true!" Ashimi shouted.

"Oh, you know it is," Dorme insisted with a tone of self assurance. "Now if you'll excuse me, little girl, I must find Johnny so we can discuss grown up Rocket stuff. Maybe he'll even get me a present from that cute gijinka shop!" Dorme walked away, laughing obnoxiously the whole way.

"She just has to knock the good mood right out of me," Ashimi grumbled. "C'mon guys," she signaled for her pokemon to follow her out of the wooded area and into the main road. "I could use some dessert right about now. Let's check out that ice-cream shop over at the main street."

xoxox xox xoxox

After having some ice-cream with Pichu, Furball and Zubat, Ashimi felt better. She would have called Clefable out, but she would have probably thrown the ice-cream on her face, so she decided not to. "That feels good!" Ashimi's declaration was met with full agreements from her pokemon. "Okay, time to get back to training!" As they left the ice-cream shop and once again headed to the outskirts of Saffron City, Ashimi spotted Jonathan coming out of a cutesy gijinka themed shop. He couldn't possibly be shopping for himself. Ashimi couldn't imagine him, or any other boy for that matter, using any of the things sold at that shop. "Johnny?"

Caught off guard, Jonathan hid something behind his back and smiled stiffly. "Hi..."

"Hi..." A heavy silence followed. Ashimi shifted slightly to try to see what Jonathan was hiding, but he moved along with her to keep the object behind his back. The thing was small, but that was just about all Ashimi could tell about it. "What did you buy?"

"Um... I'm just... Running an errand for my mom! See you later, good luck with your training!" Making sure to keep the mysterious object concealed, Jonathan made his escape, running down the street.

'Did he really get a gift for Dorme?' Ashimi wondered. It's not like Jonathan had ever outright rejected Dorme, did he like her or something? What would it be like to have a best friend dating an annoying rival? Ashimi didn't even want to imagine that. "This sucks..." She concluded. "I really need to blow off some steam! We'll train and train, and we'll even camp out and keep on training and we won't set foot in the city again until it's time to face Sabrina!" Thus it was done.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time Sabrina returned to the gym, Ashimi was ready for an intense battle. She marched to the arena full of determination and challenged Sabrina.

The psychic laughed, unsurprised. "I was told you were waiting to challenge me, though I rarely participate in gym battles in person anymore. One of my apprentices should have been enough of a challenge for you." Sabrina's air of mystery had multiplied over the years. Her psychic powers were at a whole new level and her voice seemed to echo. Anyone who had seen her years before wouldn't have imagined her in that dark cloak, but Ashimi didn't know her as anything other than the mysterious shadowy figure that floated before her.

Sabrina was the leader of her own organization of psychics, one that was allied to Team Rocket and would be instrumental when the time came to go public with their takeover and it had already been extremely helpful so far. Though Team Rocket already controlled the world from behind the scenes, they couldn't just come out and say it, the panic that would ensue would shake the very foundations of humanity.

"You'll be a much better challenge!" Ashimi replied as soon as she was able to find her voice.

"Very well, if you truly want a challenge, how about a battle of mental endurance?" Sabrina smirked and her eyes glowed ominously.

"That sounds interesting, I accept!" Ashimi pushed her voice to come out as strong as possible, though it was no easy task. There was something about the psychic gym leader that was just creepy, yet at the same time, very cool.

"You should not accept the unknown so easily." Sabrina's eerily echoing voice warned. A strange mist flooded the arena with black shadows and silver sparks.

Ashimi felt as if she was floating in space. She could no longer feel the floor beneath her feet and the air became thin and hard to breathe. 'Maybe I should have just battled mom first,' Ashimi swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath.

"One on one," Sabrina's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

Ashimi squinted into the darkness, but she couldn't see the Saffron gym leader at all. "Okay... Pichu, I choose you!" Pichu let out a scared squeak and peered down from the top of Ashimi's head. He couldn't see the floor at all and whimpered unsure. Ashimi picked up the little yellow pokemon and tried to set him at her feet, but rather than floating like she was, the Pichu plummeted into the darkness below. "Pichu!" She felt a fear and a pain, her worry increased and so did her pain, as if fear had become a physical ailment, her head was pounding.

"See through the eyes of your pokemon and become as one!" Sabrina's voice echoed.

Ashimi closed her eyes in a trance and when she opened them, she was getting on her feet at a shadowy arena, surrounded by the same space-like mist. This time she could feel the floor beneath her, but just barely, as her senses were numb. Her body moved on its own, taking a step back as a tall Alakazam approached. Then she realized it wasn't her body at all. She wasn't really seeing this, Pichu was seeing it and the images were somehow in her mind.

"Pichu," no words came from her mouth but her own voice echoed in her mind.

"Ashy, what do I do?" A small child-like voice called out to her.

"Pichu?" Then Johnny wasn't the only one who called her Ashy after all, Pichu did too. She was actually mentally talking to her pokemon, this was awesome! She suddenly wondered what Jonathan was doing. If he went out with Dorme, would she tag along with her on her pokemon quest, or would Johnny stop traveling with her?

Pichu was suddenly lifted off the floor by Alakazam's psychic powers. Ashimi was so distracted that she didn't even hear when Sabrina gave the command. "Clear your mind or your thoughts will be as a maze for your pokemon," Sabrina warned.

"Pichu!" Getting her head back in the battle, Ashimi tried to communicate with her pokemon partner. "Thunderbolt!" Ashimi could feel Pichu tensing up, but no electricity came. "I think we need to do this together, but I don't know what shooting electricity is supposed to feel like. Let's try to focus here, electricity, strength, energy, power, go!" Sparks ignited around Pichu, and he electrocuted himself.

Ashimi felt the shock as if all her nerves were burning, then Pichu's body went limp. Ashimi was surrounded by darkness and heaviness, her pokemon had closed his eyes. She felt like she was falling and hit the floor with a thud. Then she opened her eyes, awakening from her trance and she was falling again. She hit the floor once more, this time for real rather than through Pichu's sensations. The dark mist cleared out and Ashimi was once again on the arena, her Pichu lay unconscious just a few feet away. "I... I lost..."

Offering no condolences, Sabrina simply breathed, "miserably..."

Disappointed, Ashimi picked up her Pichu, cradling him in her arms, "I'm sorry..."

"Will you challenge one of my apprentices in a regular pokemon battle for a marsh badge?" Sabrina inquired as she recalled her Alakazam and floated across the arena. Her feet never touched the floor, causing her to tower over anyone.

Ashimi paused, she had clearly gotten herself into more than she could handle, but to obtain a marsh badge from anyone other than the true gym leader felt like an empty victory. "No..." Her voice was a barely audible whisper at first, then she forced herself to speak clearly. "No I won't, the only marsh badge I'll accept has to be from you! I want a rematch!"

"Good, if you had run like a coward after challenging me, I would have made sure you were denied the marsh badge," Sabrina spoke harshly. "However, I will not waste my precious time with you. You'll get one more chance, and if you fail, you can forget about ever having a marsh badge."

Sabrina's warning was scary, but Ashimi called upon her most stubborn determination and forced herself to answer. "I won't fail!"

xoxox xox xoxox

After her experience at the Saffron gym, Ashimi went to the pokemon center. After a while, the local Joy returned her healed Pichu. "Sorry about today. I forgot that Pichu tend to shock themselves, it's an accomplishment in itself that you can usually control your electricity well enough not to. That was completely my mistake, I tried to force the power out and threw it out of control. But how can we win? Sabrina is a psychic, so she knows what it's like to use psychic powers. How can I synchronize myself with you if I only just now learned a little of what it's like to control electricity?"

Ashimi was still lost in thought at the lobby of the pokemon center when Jonathan arrived looking for her. "Hey princess, where have you been?"

Ashimi tried to put on a brave front and smiled, "around. What about you? Hanging out with Dorme?"

"Dorme came to Saffron?" Jonathan sounded like he genuinely had not known. "I guess I must have missed her, I have been helping my parents with their Rocket duties and other stuff lately."

"Really?" Ashimi felt somewhat relieved. 'He was telling the truth earlier, but then why did he hide what he bought?'

"Let's go to my parents' place, there's food." Jonathan was pretty sure that would easily convince Ashimi to come along, and he was right. The girl had her father's appetite.

xoxox xox xoxox

Upon arriving at Jessie and James' pokemon day care center, Ashimi was greeted with a chorus of "happy birthday!" She had been so caught up in her traveling and training she had not realized it was her birthday. Jessie, James, Meowth and their pokemon were present of course, and also Ash, Misty and Delia were there.

"This is awesome! I can't believe I forgot it was my birthday!" Ashimi laughed, her mood had taken a complete turn for the better. She still had Sabrina's challenge to think about, but for the time being she would focus on the present, after all, it was hard to think about anything else when there was a delicious cake in sight.

Ashimi eyed the cake with sparkles in her eyes and looked at Delia. "Yes, I did make it," she confirmed. "It's a chocolate cake with peanut butter chips, layered with cookies and cream icecream." Delia knew it was Ashimi's favorite. As for the outside of the cake, it was framed with oreos charlotte style with rainbow sprinkles and raspberries on top.

"Awesome!" Ashimi cheered. Though there were some pretty good bakeries around Kanto, no one could cook and bake like her grandmother.

The Starlight Delight hadn't become a famous franchise of secret recipes in Kalos for nothing. Though it started as a cover up for Giovanni to begin his take-over of the region, soon everyone was lining up to get a taste of Delia's cakes. She even had to train a few Rockets to make them, as she couldn't supply enough for their cover-up by herself. The cakes were of high quality, made separately in small mixing bowls to ensure that each individual cake's consistency was just right. As the process was so carefully monitored, they were sold as pricey gourmet cakes, which Delia thought didn't fit with the image of the homey little restaurant she once owned, the Pallet House, she never would have guessed her cooking would end up having such an effect. It was only a matter of time before the franchise was expanded to other regions, though it would never become a shop of mass produced cakes, as such, the expansion would be slow but convenient, opening the doors of the homes of many wealthy and influential cake fans.

Overall, Ashimi had a very good birthday. She got plenty of supplies for her journey, snacks to take along and even some gijinka collectibles, though she had to leave them at home so as to not carry too much of a heavy load during her journey. She did eventually solve the mystery of what Johnny had gotten from the gijinka themed shop. It was a cute cellphone case with a picture of a chibi pikachu gijinka floating on a lifesaver, which now adorned her phone.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the birthday, Delia returned to Viridian City where Giovanni was. Misty had to return to Cerulean City to take care of the gym, and Ash was called away on business by the Pokemon League again, that was happening more often than usual lately, but Ashimi didn't give it too much thought. Ash knew why they were doing it and knew that if he was to get his request he'd have to do a few jobs for the League. He didn't exactly dedicate himself to his duties after he won the championship, instead choosing to continue traveling until Ashimi was born.

Even then, he would take her and Misty on the road whenever Misty could get one of her sisters to take care of the gym for her. That had become a little easier in the most recent years when one of her older nephews offered to take her place every now and then, while Misty fell into her old habits of traveling to the ends of the earth and back on Ash's whims. Perhaps that was the reason why Ashimi was content going from one place to another in a car now. She had started to hike through every corner of Kanto as soon as she could walk. She would encounter wild pokemon, chase after them and play with them, but they weren't hers to catch at the time. She grew up surrounded by pokemon, they were her friends and she didn't really feel like catching more than she could truly pay attention to.

"Are you going to the gym today?" Jonathan inquired after Ash, Misty and Delia had left.

"Not yet," Ashimi decided. "I'm going back into the woods in the outskirts of the city and training. There's something I need to do before I can face Sabrina... again," she confessed.

"Again?" Jonathan questioned.

"You didn't miss much," Ashimi insisted. "I lost, but I think I know what to do to win, I just have to train. I also need some equipment, I'm sure your parents won't mind letting me borrow a little something."

Jessie and James seemed to pop out of nowhere in the front lobby, despite having been tending to the pokemon in the back seconds prior. "What do you need, Princess Rocket?" Jessie asked with a big smile.

"We'll do anything we can to assist you in your quest, your highness," James added.

Ashimi giggled, it all started when Ash had jokingly complained about his daughter being treated like a princess while he was still referred to as twerp, despite being a grown man. That only caused Jessie and James to poke fun at him by making their royal treatment silly and over the top.

"I was wondering if you have any equipment that can redirect electricity," Ashimi asked.

"As a matter of fact we do," Jessie recalled. "I think we have a few things that fit the description stashed off in the basement."

"We used to get gadgets like that all the time years ago to try to steal your dad's pikachu," James fondly recalled. "Afterwards we kept on collecting little things like that, I guess old habits die hard. But whose pikachu are you planning to steal?" James joked.

"Who knows..." Ashimi replied with an air of playful mystery.

"Maybe I should be the one getting all the equipment and stealing your Pichu," Jonathan joked.

"Ha, just try it, if you steal him you'll have to feed him and you'll be begging me to take him back before you know it!" Ashimi teased. Pichu gave her a playful electric shock in response and feigned indignation. "Ow, ow, save it for the training."

xoxox xox xoxox

A short while later, Ashimi left the pokemon day care center with a peculiar metal stick on hand. It was a type of lightning rod that could catch and return electric attacks. Its rubber covering on the handle protected the one holding it while it was charged. As they walked towards the edge of the city, Meowth exited the pokemon day care and caught up to them. His daughter, Nya, was happily running next to him and jumped towards Jonathan.

"Do you want to come see Ashy train?" The teen scratched the feline behind the ears and she purred contently. Purrloin were not very common in Kanto, so the people who came and went from the pokemon day care center often stopped to observe the kitten. She was very young and still quite small. She liked playing with balls of yarn and often got tangled up on them.

Her mother was a Purrloin cared for by Delia after the passing of her previous owner. She was a gift from Giovanni after they got into an argument about something or other concerning his expansion to Kalos. He intended to get her a pokemon from that region, as baby pokemon were more effective in subduing her anger then big expensive jewelry, as he had learned over time. Yet urgent business called him away to Unova to meet with a colleague who turned out not to have called him in the first place. Instead he was given the news of his mother's passing, gathered what little resources she hadn't splurged, as her lifestyle became more expensive than usual since her move to Unova, and got her newest house pet. He gave the Purrloin to Delia, who immediately loved her, which eventually led to her meeting Meowth. The talking pokemon was determined to pay her no mind, since he had his heart broken too many times, but in the end one thing led to another and they fell in love. She moved in with Jessie and James soon after.

Walking at a less rushed pace, the Purrloin mother made her way to the distraught Meowth and nudged him, pronouncing a few airheaded yet encouraging words that only pokemon could understand. With tears in his eyes, Meowth looked up at Jonathan, who was clearly perplexed by his behavior. "Please... Please take good care of her!" Unable to utter any more coherent words, Meowth burst into a big waterworks show, a waterfall of tears coming from each eye.

Jonathan and Ashimi blinked in perplexity until Meowth's words sunk in. "You want to come with me?" Jonathan asked. Nya nodded energetically and rubbed her head against his hand. She was so small that his palm could cover her entire head. He looked at the crying Meowth, "relax, Nya will be fine." Yet there was simply no consolation for the emotional father. Purrloin patted him on the shoulder and smiled, at least she was okay with their daughter wanting to travel with Jonathan instead of staying at Saffron all the time.

To be Continued

Just like I said Ashimi couldn't have it easy forever... What do you think of Sabrina? I always thought Sabrina as a powerful and mysterious psychic would be so cool. Well she's was already powerful in the anime, I just had to add more of an air of dark mystery. Let's not forget, this Sabrina is a lot older than the one in the anime, so he powers have grown a lot since then. Nyarth is Meowth's Japanese name. The idea of Purrloin was inspired by a fanart made by Nafa-tali that featured Delia holding a shiny Purrloin. The ony is this story is a different one though and has a different background (and fur color). I would imagine the substance use on her is based on those berries found on the Orange Islands that turn pokemon pink.

The Saffron adventure turned out to be a bit longer than expected so I divided it into two chapter. Up next is Chapter 5: The Shadows In Your Eyes (Part 2).

Dorme: Domino's 14 year old daughter who has a big crush on Johnny. She has wavy pale blond hair and violet eyes. She travels through Kanto as a Rocket agent and often runs into Johnny and Ashimi. She is jealous of all the attention Johnny gives Ashimi, despite them only being friends, and often tries to separate them.


	5. Chapter 5

Awakening

Chapter 5: The Shadows In Your Eyes (Part 2)

After they more or less got Meowth to calm down, Ashimi and Jonathan continued on their way just outside of Saffron City where she would continue her training. Jonathan put Nya down and she became fascinated with a stray leaf, swiping at it to toss it in the air. She rolled, ending up on her back below the falling leaf which landed on her nose, she looked cross-eyed for a moment trying to look at it, before blowing and causing the leaf to jump up from her nose and fall slowly once again. She swiped at it with her paws as the leaf fell, until a breeze blew it off course. Rolling right side up she jumped, trying to catch it, but the wind blew it away. Nya landed with her paws cupped over nothing. She lifted one paw and the then the other, marveling at the lack of leaf. She spun around looking for her lost plaything and caught sight of her tail instead, occupying herself in chasing it until she was dizzy.

During her stay with Delia, Giovanni had observed that the Purrloin he obtained from his deceased mother was not the sharpest knife in the drawer and wondered aloud if she ingested the pink dye used on her fur. Delia was about to scold him for being mean, but stopped when she saw the Purrloin rubbing against his leg affectionately. He had not spoken harshly, his voice taking on an almost joking tone and she took it to mean a good thing. As long as she wasn't yelled at, she would take everything as well meant. Delia wasn't sure if the Purrloin was fully aware that pokemon that spoke the human language were particularly rare, or if she even noticed that Meowth was unusual. She was used to wearing extravagant hats and accessories at her previous trainer's whims and nothing seemed odd to her.

Purrloin's fur stayed pink, making Delia later conclude that Giovanni's mother must have injected her with something that mutated her that way. Her child was expected to be the normal violet color of a Purrloin, though she ended up being lavender, her paler fur attributed to some pigmentation mutation from her mother. Meowth had suggested the name Nyarth, but her mother had taken to calling her Nya, so he settled for that. She was a curious kitten, displaying the need to know of her father, comically paired with the scattered brained distraction of her mother, which made most of her investigative endeavors utterly unsuccessful, but still cute.

Nya finally got dizzy from chasing her tail and plopped down on the grass, her limbs stretched in every direction and her head moving from side to side. Jonathan let Foxtrot out of his pokeball, instructing him to keep an eye on Nya, then turned his attention to Ashimi. "What did you have in mind for training?"

"I need to get a feel for electricity," Ashimi removed the rubber cover on the rod's handle and tossed it in her bag.

"You're going to really feel it if you use it like that..." Jonathan observed.

"Yup," Ashimi agreed, as if getting electrocuted on purpose was a perfectly normal thing to do. She explained how her battle with Sabrina went and her training made a little more sense, but still looked a tad extreme, yet fitting for Ashimi's impulsive tendencies. "Okay Pichu, give me a little shock." The Pichu shook his head, refusing at first, but Ashimi managed to coax him into attacking her. She cringed at the feeling of electricity coursing through her but forced herself to be strong. "More..."

Little by little, the electric charge increased until Jonathan began to worry. He tried to share his concerns, but Ashimi wouldn't hear it. Nya looked at the light show, smiled and ran towards it because it was pretty and shiny. Foxtrot snatched her back before she got hurt, but they were close enough to the flow of electricity for their fur to become comically fluffy and charged with static.

Ashimi used the rod to redirect the electricity, getting a feel for what it was like for electricity to gather at a specific point. It was the end of the rod attracting it, but at least she could feel the flow of its movements, even if it was rather painful. Exhausted and sore, Ashimi collapsed in a mess of static and twitching, her hair just as fluffed up as the pokemon's fur. As Jonathan tried to help her up, he ended up getting a jolt of leftover electricity too. Ashimi laughed despite her pain, "you should see your hair."

"It can't be any worse than yours, puffball." Jonathan was relieved to hear her joke. If she could still poke fun at him, then she couldn't be that bad off.

"Okay, I think I have a feel for the flow of electricity, now I just need to work on not getting shocked. That should be less painful," Ashimi stumbled, her head spinning from all the shocks.

"Maybe you should take a break first," Jonathan suggested.

Ashimi let out a breath and tried to steady herself. "Okay, but only for a little while." Something bumped into her leg softly and she looked down to see a lavender ball of fluff, any shape beyond the roundness being imperceptible; she couldn't help it but to laugh.

After a short break, Ashimi went on to the next part of her training. This was significantly less painful for her but challenging for Pichu. She had the pokemon use electricity around her, but not on her. At first Pichu slipped often and shocked her, though she encouraged him and claimed she was slowly getting a feel for what it was like to be surrounded by electricity without actually being shocked. Pichu also gained more control because of the exercise, which would certainly come in handy. There was a secret move that could be done with electricity, yet few pokemon could perform it. It required very precise control that Pichu was trained for by his mother, but ultimately was too young to master. Ashimi knew of this and tried to continue the training though she didn't push Pichu too hard, being aware that even if he came close, a perfect move was simply not something a Pichu could do.

The ability was not designed for battle, but as support for the Rockets of the tech department, hackers and machine experts. The goal was to output a very precise stream of energy in a near perfect straight line, rather than the zigzag pattern electric attacks usually took. This would allow small components to be powered without affecting the machinery around them. In infiltration situations, it could mean avoiding detection by short-circuiting key elements and leaving the rest functional to prevent alarms. Yet even if it wasn't originally made for that purpose, it could also be used in battle and it was powerful. The superficial damage would be hard to perceive, but the way the nervous system would react would be extremely painful. The target would experience pain well beyond the truth of the damage, allowing opponents to be defeated without serious injury. It was also quite convenient for interrogations, but Ashimi wasn't really aware of that part. As an extreme, the ability code-named lightning laser could be used as a way to attack the heart, causing irregularities in its beating, which could potentially provoke a heart attack, but Ashimi wasn't aware of that part either.

xoxox xox xoxox

After taking some more time to train, Ashimi felt that she had done all she could do. She could practice more and Pichu could get stronger, but that wasn't the problem anyway. Sabrina was testing her endurance and mental capability to see if she could feel what a pokemon felt and deal with it. This was a test of mental strength rather than physical strength. When Pichu was fed and well rested, it was again time to try to win a marsh badge.

Once again, Ashimi marched towards the main street, this time with Jonathan at her side. As they left the wooded area in the city outskirts and entered the main street, the person following them looked around for a hiding spot. "What? Aren't you going to follow all the way?"

Realizing that she had been discovered, Dorme stepped out of hiding. "I'm not following you, I'm just passing by!"

"And you happened to be going to the gym?" Ashimi suspiciously asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am," Dorme crossed her arms over her chest and firmly planted her feet on the ground, her nose up in the air.

"I won't stop you," Ashimi voiced. "If you want to see my battle that's fine by me."

"C'mon Dorme, let's cheer her on together," Jonathan gave Dorme a friendly pat on the back to encourage her to join them in a way that would hopefully make the two girls learn to get along.

Feeling his hand on her shoulder, Dorme smiled, her cheeks taking on a slightly pink hue. "Okay..." Then she realized what she had agreed to and jumped back as if she had been burned. "No way! I don't want to cheer her on!"

"Not that I need it," Ashimi continued her determined march to the Saffron gym. She knew the battle that awaited would be difficult, but she had a feeling that if she put it off any longer Sabrina would make it even harder. The psychic didn't like cowards and Ashimi certainly wasn't one. " This is it, It's time for me to battle Sabrina!"

Dorme's eyes went wide. "You mean you're not battling her lackeys? Sabrina may be an ally to Team Rocket, but judging from what I heard, she won't go easy on you just because you're Giovanni's granddaughter. "

"I know, but I have to do this, I already challenged her," as for having already lost to her once before, Ashimi felt that Dorme didn't need to know that.

"I'm not going to play cheerleader for you, but I want to see this," Dorme was visibly excited to see the famous Sabrina in action. "You're going to lose so badly! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!"

"We'll see about that!" Ashimi could feel her determination growing along with her annoyance.

"Ashy..." Jonathan spoke in a distinctly non-confrontational tone. "Don't get mad at me for saying this, but if you need a high level of focus, then this isn't the time to lose your temper."

"I haven't lost my temper!" Ashimi shouted, proving that she had indeed done the opposite of what she claimed. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Focus... focus... concentrate... deep breaths... calming breaths..."

Dorme grinned quietly as she watched Ashimi try hard to calm herself, she could be pretty loud and distracting when she wanted to be. The blond noticed Jonathan giving her a suspicious look and smiled innocently, as if she hadn't been plotting anything at all.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Saffron City gym, Ashimi stepped forward towards the arena. She figured Sabrina would notice she was back and arrive soon enough. This was true, though her arrival was not what Ashimi and her companions expected, as the psychic teleported into the opposite side of the arena. "Let us begin..." Sabrina's voice echoed.

The same dark mist from before invaded the arena. Jonathan and Dorme could no longer see Ashimi or each other. The blond stepped closer to where she thought he was and reached for his hand in the darkness. She thought she felt something and grabbed at it, in her haste not paying attention to the fact that it wasn't hand-shaped. She suddenly jumped forward and both her hands flew to cover her behind. "Johnny, did you just grab my tail?" She shouted in shock. After the surprise faded, she wasn't sure if she should be angry or happy. "Johnny? You can stop hiding in the creepy mist, I won't slap you, I promise." No reply came and she reached into the darkness again, stretching her right arm forward. She felt the hand on her backside again and grabbed at the wrist with her left. She felt someone grab her right wrist at the same time and screamed.

Dorme pulled her hand back and felt who she had assumed to be Johnny trying to free himself from her grip. She refused to let go and as she held on, she felt the grip on her other hand become tighter. She looked back and noticed something strange, the hand she held had a glove like hers. Now that she thought about it, the wrist was also kind of thin and... feminine? She tugged at it and felt a tug on her other hand. She let go and moved her fingers. "What?" As her right hand was now free, she pulled it back and looked at it. She turned her head to look behind her and reached out, seeing her own hand emerge from the mist. "Now that's just creepy." Dorme pulled both arms close to her body and hugged herself. "Wait, that means it was just me all along, it was never Johnny at all..." She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed.

Jonathan was lost in the dark mist also. The silvery points of light looked like little distant stars, but far from being a means of orientation, they were rather disconcerting. He saw the tiny silver specs, but they provided no illumination, the dark fog was as thick as ever. "Ashy! Dorme!" Even if he called out as loud as he could, he could hardly even hear his own voice. The lavender Purrloin in his arms whimpered in fright and covered her eyes with her front paws, hiding her face. "It's okay, Nya, it's not as scary inside your pokeball." Jonathan secured the little pokemon into a capsule and continued his investigation of the surrounding area. He started walking but felt like he wasn't getting anywhere. Suddenly, the fog stretched into tentacles that wrapped around him. He struggled to get free, but couldn't move a muscle.

"Johnny?" Dorme's figure slowly emerged from the darkness and spotted Jonathan. "Johnny!" She ran to him and tried to free him from the odd dark material that held him in place.

"Be careful, don't get caught too," Jonathan warned.

"This place is creepy..." Dorme took a deep breath and tried to be brave. "Go Oddish!" The pokeball didn't respond. "Oddish?" She opened up the pokeball, pulling the two halves apart, and a bright red light came from within, but just as quickly it retreated and the pokeball closed itself. "It's stuck..." She reached for another pokeball from her belt.

"It won't work..." Johnny concluded. "If Sabrina doesn't want you to call out your pokemon you won't be able to." He paused, looking at the darkness beyond, he thought he saw Pichu.

"What can we do?" Before Dorme received any answers, the fog around her stretched and grabbed her, wrapping around her body and holding her in place. "Ah! It's not fair! I wasn't even going to cheer for Ashimi! Sabrina, I'm on your side!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Ashimi remained calm while her body went into a trance and her mind connected with Pichu. She couldn't hear Johnny cheering her on or Dorme tossing out annoying remarks, but she assumed they were somewhere in the darkness. Yet this was no time to think about her cheering squad, or lack thereof, she had to concentrate on Pichu and the battle. "Just like we practiced..."

Pichu's electricity began to build up slowly. Ashimi didn't rush it, remembering what it was like to feel the electricity flow. "Ashy, we're doing it!" Pichu's young voice echoed in Ashimi's mind.

"That's right, we're going to win! Thunderbolt!" Pichu dashed forward on the offensive and attacked Alakazam, who quickly teleported out of the way.

"Behind us!"Ashimi called out, taking a guess. Where else would Alakazam want to appear? Appearing behind an opponent was a classic trick and the guess was correct. "Thunderbolt!" This time the attack flowed out faster, with more confidence, but Alakazam disappeared and dodged it again.

Pichu turned around, but didn't find anyone behind him. "Where did he go?"

"Above?" Ashimi guessed. She wouldn't put it past this particular Alakazam to be able to freely levitate with ease, his trainer could do it after all. Sure enough there was Alakazam, floating above Pichu. "Thunderbolt!" Just as they were going to attack again, the image of Alakazam became an entrapped Johnny, and Ashimi tried to pull back the power on instinct while Pichu attempted to diminish it to the point of harmlessness. The difference in their tactics caused the electricity to shock Pichu, but fortunately, it wasn't intense enough to knock him out. "Sorry Pichu, let's stay synchronized from now on." Trying to call back the electricity was a big mistake, but Ashimi didn't think diminishing it would work ideally either, she could feel Pichu's fatigue as he had tried to cancel out the attack, causing the sparks to become wider, but in a much shorter range. "Next time, lets try to redirect the attack altogether."

"Got it!" Pichu looked around, Ashimi's vision following the movements of his head, seeing through his eyes. Alakazam was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Pichu was lifted off the floor.

"Don't panic," Ashimi advised, both to Pichu and herself. "We can still win this. Feel the flow of psychic power just like you can sense the flow of electricity and follow it to the target... Thunder!" The psychic grip tightened and lifted Pichu higher, then began to descend with amazing speed. The thunder attack reached Alakazam in a direct hit and the psychic force pushing him to the ground was gone, but gravity was still in place; unlike Ashimi's sleeping body, Pichu wasn't floating. "Thunderbolt the ground!"

Pichu reacted fast and aimed his electricity for the mist covered floor below. He looked like a rocket, he wasn't flying, but he was at least falling slower. The yellow pokemon still hit the floor with a thud, but it could have been a lot worse. Sore and tired, Pichu struggled to get on his feet. "Ow... Are we still winning?"

"We're getting there..." Ashimi tried to stay positive.

Out of the darkness, Alakazam appeared, he was looking kind of singed, especially the ends of his mustache, and he seemed to be suffering from a headache. "Following the flow of Alakazam's psychic power to attack him, a clever trick," Sabrina's voice echoed. "To sense the flow of energy and ride their current is a precious art, did you know it was I who initially mentioned it to the Rocket tech department while they were working on machines that amplified and utilized my power? They made good use of the concept."

"I thought you didn't want to be hooked up to any machines," Ashimi voiced in surprise. That was what she had heard, Team Rocket trying to convince Sabrina to participate in some project the details of which Ashimi was uncertain of, and Sabrina refusing.

"It is not that I distrust technology, but those who control it," Sabrina answered simply. "You remain unaware of the true power of precise targeting. Even with light attacks in the right spot, the result can be significant, what would happen with strong attacks if they can be made just as precise?" Sabrina didn't wait for an answer to her rhetorical question before making Dorme appear in front of Alakazam. "You don't like this one much, do you? Will you go through her to attack?"

"Pichu?" Dorme looked confused at the image that was suddenly in front of her.

"I don't have to..." Ashimi was determined. "Just like we practiced, Pichu! Surround Dorme with electricity but don't hit her, hit Alakazam."

When Dorme saw Pichu getting ready to attack in her direction, she was alarmed and struggled to get free to no avail. Yet the electricity passed next to her in a zigzagging semi circle and hit Alakazam behind her.

Dorme disappeared into the darkness again. A chuckle was heard in an echo and the warning in Sabrina's voice of, "don't let it go to your head..." Then quickly a command, "psycho cut!"

Unlike in previous occasions, Ashimi and Pichu actually heard Sabrina's order that time, which gave Pichu a warning to react to and dodge. He was able to avoid most of the damage, but got caught on the tip of the tail. The psycho cut was sharper than usual, enough to create a cut and draw blood. Pichu cried out in pain while Ashimi tried to calm him. "It's almost over, Pichu, just hold on a little longer, we'll win this soon. I'll focus on the pain and maybe that will pass it onto me and make it less for you, just focus on our final move. They're not expecting us to recover quickly, now's our chance to end this!"

Pichu got ready for another electric attack, but strangely, Alakazam didn't move. There was an odd glow around him and once again they had not heard what Sabrina's command had been, she had probably sent her pokemon a private psychic message. "Pichu, pretend to attack with thunderbolt, get close and miss." Ashimi wasn't sure what the glow was, but it was probably a light screen or some kind of counter attack technique. If it had been a direct psychic attack, they would have already felt it. Pichu did as instructed, pretending not to notice Alakazam's strategy. Just as the thunderbolt missed the target and served as a distraction, it was the opportunity they needed. "Bite!"

Taken off guard and not being used to direct physical attacks, Alakazam dropped one of his spoons as Pichu lashed on to his wrist harshly. The pained psychic pokemon lost his concentration and the glow of his defenses faded, leaving him exposed to an attack. He lifted his other hand with the intention of smacking the electric pokemon away with his remaining spoon, but it was too late.

"Thunder!" With the last of his energy, Pichu released the final attack. Alakazam twitched wildly as he was electrocuted, then became still, fainted. The defeated psychic pokemon fell backwards and Pichu finally released his wrist, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily, he could no longer stand and soon darkness overcame his senses.

As Pichu closed his eyes, Ashimi's vision turned dark, but she couldn't allow it, she gave the pokemon her energy, calling his exhaustion to her, until he opened his eyes again, long enough to utter the words, "we won..." The quiet whisper came out as a simple "pi chu..." outside of their minds, but it was enough to make it clear which pokemon had stayed awake the longest, enough to prove that Pichu was still conscious when Alakazam wasn't.

To be Continued

What did you think of the battle? Sabrina hasn't entirely lost the sense of humor she developed after meeting Ash in the first season of the anime. I wanted to show that even with all the mystery and power, she still has a fun side to her and was probably getting a good laugh out of picking on Dorme.

There's no mini-bio in this chapter because I haven't introduced any new characters yet. Well, there's the lady from the cake shop, but I don't want to spoil her true identity. Although, if you've been following me at Deviant Art or the other art sites listed on my profile, you've already seen pictures of the whole supporting cast. XD See you in the next installment - Chapter 6: What's an Adventure Without a High-Speed Chase?

I added a poll to my profile. If you've been following me on Daviant Art, you should already know all the characters, but I do I realize that some of the characters have not been introduced in the actual story yet, so I understand if you'd rather vote later.


	6. Chapter 6

Awakening

Chapter 6: What's an Adventure Without a High-Speed Chase?

Ashimi was lowered onto the floor of the Saffron gym more gently this time. Jonathan and Dorme were released and at her side in seconds. Exhausted and dizzy, Ashimi couldn't stay on her feet, but two pairs of arms on either side of her prevented her from face planting onto the floor. "Johnny?" She looked to her right and smiled, then looked to her left in surprise. "Dorme?"

"I still don't like you, but I have to admit, you did really well training your Pichu... Even if you're still a brat!" That was as close as Dorme could get to a compliment.

Ashimi laughed tiredly and looked into the fading mist of the arena. She saw Pichu a few feet away. The little yellow pokemon gently floated in Sabrina's telekinesis. Ashimi steadied herself just enough to extend her arms and hold her pokemon. "You're amazing, Pichu! I'll take you to the pokemon center now and you'll be all better soon. Then you can have lots of yummy poke-treats!"

"You did not sacrifice your allies regardless of who they are and you remained alert to possible last minute retaliations; all of that will be useful in the future. You have passed the test." Sabrina floated in front of Ashimi and her companions, then without a warning she disappeared and in her place there floated a marsh badge.

Ashimi cradled Pichu with one arm and caught the marsh badge in the palm of her other hand. "We did it, Pichu! Thanks Sabrina, this is a battle I'll never forget!" Though the psychic was no longer visible, Ashimi was pretty sure she was still heard. The aspiring pokemon master, her friend and her self-proclaimed rival, exited the Saffron City gym, with the redhead dragging her feet heavily. Between big breaths, only a few steps out of the gym, she confessed, "I have such a big headache." She was also sore all over, though at least humans didn't have tails, so that was one less pained appendage to worry about. "I think I'm going to," she began to lose her balance, "fall..."

"Sheesh, so much for a dignified victory," Dorme snorted. "Hey, Johnny, give her a piggyback ride, I'll carry Pichu."

"Okay," Jonathan agreed. By the time Ashimi was on his back, she was already out like a light, lightly snoring into his ear. "She sleeping," he stated.

"She's snoring," Dorme observed, "I don't snore," she added with a little pride.

"How would you know if you're sleeping when it happens?" Johnny teased.

Dorme pouted, "I just know!"

He laughed while she tossed her hair in annoyance. "Thanks for helping. It's nice that you two are getting along... sort of."

Dorme smile despite trying to sound indifferent, "this is as close as it gets," she assured. 'Of course, I only asked you to give her a piggyback ride because I really don't want to carry her and it's better than seeing you carry her bridal style, but you don't need to know that, dear Johnny,' she thought.

xoxox xox xoxox

While they were resting at Jessie and James' pokemon day care, Laiki, the Rocket pokemon doctor stationed at the Viridian headquarters, arrived. She claimed that she was doing a routine inspection to make sure all the Rocket pokemon were kept in good enough conditions that they wouldn't be an embarrassment in a battle, but she didn't actually perform the inspection at all. She knew Jessie and James took better care of the pokemon than most Rockets anyway, thus she took the official visit as a holiday to shop and chat. "Ashimi, I'm glad I ran into you," the blond pokemon doctor dug around her bag and retrieved a pokeball. "Gary saved you one and I told him which one to pick. You should probably give him some exercise, I haven't been walking him or anything." For all her careless disregard, Laiki was ironically a very effective healer in all aspects of pokemon health, except anesthesia, which she was notorious for performing without, claiming that the rush of adrenaline and other chemicals helped keep critical patients alive.

"Another pokemon, this is awesome!" Ashimi released the creature and found a little Squirtle. She squealed with delight at the sight of the creature. "Squirtle! This is so totally the one I would have picked, I needed the water element on my team. Thank you so much for bringing him! I should email a thank you to Gary too. I just couldn't wait to start my journey that day and didn't stick around for him to get up."

Jessie and James had found the tale pretty funny, as they had heard about Ash's lateness in getting his starter pokemon, which resulted in his first encounter with Pikachu. Laiki shrugged as if the situation had nothing to do with her. "Who knows, maybe Gary found his bed to be particularly comfortable that morning, though I'm sure I can't imagine why." Laiki's absolutely innocent tone caused Jessie to take notice and make a mental note to get the full story out of her later.

Later, after they were well rested and feeling refreshed, Jonathan and Ashimi headed to Vermilion City. Dorme claimed she had important Team Rocket duties to tend to and did not accompany them, though she did hang around while they were at Saffron. Jessie never liked Dorme because she was the daughter of Domino, though James was a lot more lenient towards her, trying to convince Jessie that it didn't matter who the girl's parents were. Jessie's mother had been a Rocket, as was she, but James was nothing like his parents. He knew from experience that though parents are a big influence in their children's lives, no one is a copy of their parents. Dorme wasn't fond of Jessie for the simple fact that Jessie made it clear she wasn't fond of her.

xoxox xox xoxox

The road between Saffron and Vermilion was calm and the day was sunny and nice. Ashimi leaned back in the passenger seat and relaxed, while Jonathan grinned at his reflection in the rear view mirror, his eyes filled with adoration for the car.

"Narcissist much?" Ashimi teased.

"I was admiring the car, not me, though I do look cool driving it," Jonathan defended. Another glance at the mirror showed someone approaching from behind on a motorcycle.

Ashimi was about to formulate a comeback when she saw his look of concentration and glanced at the mirror herself. She blinked and turned her head to look behind them at the rapidly approaching motorcycle.

"Is it a cop?" Johnny looked through the plethora of symbols on the touch screen digital display next to the steering wheel. "The scanner didn't pick up anything, so I didn't think it mattered that I was going a bit over the speed limit." More than just a bit, he noticed upon closer inspection, but the ride was very smooth, so he could hardly feel it. The rooftop was up to shield them from the sun and without the wind as a velocity indicator, he had forgotten to look at the display and drove faster than he intended. Although that still didn't explain why the officer wasn't detected by the police GPS radar.

"I don't think that's a Jenny, or any other cop," Ashimi replied. As the person approached, Ashimi noticed that it was a girl around Jonathan's age.

The girl had dark skin, mid-back black curly hair in low pigtails with two chin-length blond bleached curls framing her face. She wore dark colored clothing, shorts, a tank-top, boots and gloves. Riding behind her on the motorcycle there was a Houndour, which placed his paws on the girl's shoulders and glared at the car ahead. "Houndour, use flamethrower!" The girl on the motorcycle suddenly exclaimed. The pokemon riding with her breathed fire towards the indigo car in front of them, right on target.

Jonathan made a sharp turn off the road at the last second, narrowly avoiding the attack. The car bounced on the rocks and bushes, having had no time for any adaptations with the suddenness of the attack. "Switching to all terrain mode." The car's suspension stretched and the ride became smoother as the shock of the uneven terrain was absorbed.

"She's still coming!" Ashimi warned. The girl on the motorcycle had followed them out of the road into their improvised path. "We need to counter-attack!"

"With missiles?" Jonathan inquired. The car was equipped with hidden artillery, but it might be a bit much.

Ashimi thought about it and concluded, "that would definitely be overkill." The car violently swerved to the side as Jonathan dodged another fireball. "Johnny, open the rooftop!"

"Okay, but that just means we have a lot less armor between us and the fire." Despite his warning, Jonathan put the convertible's roof down, trusting that Ashimi had a plan.

"Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, that's what I've heard people say!" Ashimi released Squirtle from his pokeball. "Squirtle, I choose you, water gun!" Ashimi stood on her seat and pointed at the target, but Squirtle only squeaked in fright and ducked into his shell, shaking in fear. Left hanging, Ashimi looked at the water pokemon, his head, limbs and tail were all hidden inside his shell. "Squirtle?"

"Get down!" "Pi chu!" Jonathan and Pichu shouted at the same time. Ashimi dropped into her seat as a fireball flew above her where her head had been a split second before.

"She's really out to get us!" Ashimi peeked out from behind the backrest. The girl and her Houndour were relentless. "Squirtle, come out of your shell and fight! You're a water pokemon, you have the type advantage, why are you so afraid?" The little turtle gave no response, remaining inside his trembling shell. "Ugh, how did I end up with such a cowardly pokemon?"

"I don't know, but that girl is still on the attack." Jonathan dodged another fireball that passed by dangerously close. "The fires are spreading," the cries of fleeing pokemon could be heard. "If this keeps going, the fires might even reach the nearby cities."

"Hey!" Ashimi shouted at the girl chasing them. "Don't you care about collateral damage? Why are you attacking us anyway?"

"Team Rocket is the enemy and Giovanni's family is the head of team Rocket! If you want to kill a beast you have to cut off its head!" The girl angrily replied.

'It's not odd for the gym leaders and long time pokemon trainers to know me, but a regular civilian shouldn't recognize me.' Ashimi thought. "Who are you?"

"My name is Daala, but what matters is that I will be the one to end Giovanni's lineage! Houndour, show no mercy, flamethrower!"

"It's not like you've been showing any mercy so far," Ashimi grumbled as she nearly fell over, Jonathan had made another sharp turn to avoid an incoming attack. "Pichu, use thunderbolt!" The yellow pokemon did so, but Daala was a skilled driver and kept dodging his attacks while Houndour countered.

"Ashy, we have a problem!" Jonathan announced.

"No kidding!" Ashimi sarcastically replied before realizing he meant a problem other than a self-justified assassin hot on their trail. "What is it? Don't tell me we're running out of gas!"

"No, we have plenty of gas, but look ahead, those trees are packed together pretty tight. We can't get through in the car," Jonathan delivered the bad news. "We'll have to turn and she'll catch up to us. That's some motorcycle she has to have been keeping up this far."

"This has to end! Zubat, I choose you! Confuse those two with super sonic!" The Zubat flew towards Daala and her Houndour, flying circles around them and using his super sonic waves. Daala fought to stay focused while Houndour tried to knock the Zubat out of their way with his flames. "Go Furball! Rain dance!" The Meowth began to hop around on the car's trunk as if he was performing in a music video.

"Ashy, the roof is still down!" Jonathan grimaced at the clouds gathering above.

"Never mind, we'll send the car to the cleaners later!" Ashimi disregarded.

"I'm turning around!" Seeing as they couldn't go any further in a straight line because of the trees ahead, Jonathan turned the car around, sliding a little in the mud created by the effects of the rain dance. Fortunately, the state of the art traction of the indigo car was enough to allow them to turn and avoid a collision with the trees. Daala was not so lucky.

Dazed and confused by Zubat, Daala lost control of her motorcycle, sliding in the mud. The vehicle overturned, sending the driver and her pokemon flying. At least the mud around them created a soft enough landing so that no major injuries occurred. She thought her targets would take the opportunity to escape, but the indigo car was coming back around.

Before the Houndour could recover from the fall enough to go on the attack, Ashimi launched an attack of her own. "Furball, thunderbolt that Houndour, knock him out! Pichu, thunderbolt the motorcycle, aim for the fuel tank!"

Houndour fell unconscious and the motorcycle blew up. Daala glared at Ashimi, she recalled Houndour and prepared to call out another pokemon, but it was too late, the indigo car was speeding away and her mission had failed. Several things puzzled her. 'Why didn't they finish me off? I heard their car had homing missiles, why didn't they use them? Why didn't they wait for me to get close to the motorcycle before blowing it up? With the way Giovanni's granddaughter battled, she should have been smart enough to come up with a plan like that!'

xoxox xox xoxox

"Ashy..." Jonathan and Ashimi were back on the road to Vermilion City. Things had somewhat calmed down, at least enough to actually be able to discuss the recent happenings without constantly worrying that something similar would suddenly happen at any given moment. The fire department had been notified and it looked like they had things under control.

The teen behind a wheel was giving his companion a very serious and disapproving look which caught her off guard. As a Rocket he was trained to handle dangerous situations, so she didn't think the chase would disturb him as much as his expression hinted. "Um... That was some amazing driving you did back there." Ashimi wouldn't be able to drive in public until she was sixteen, but she intended to apply for lessons at fourteen, and not only for cars.

The driving age for Rocket agents was fourteen, assuming that they actually passed the basic training to become agents. The training could be started at the age of twelve, but the youngest recruits they got, excluding those who came from Rocket parents, were usually already fifteen or sixteen. Jonathan had a head-start since his parents were both Rockets and prepared him to be one. By the time his fifteenth birthday came around, he could already drive more than just a car.

Jonathan showed no reaction for the compliment and continued frowning. "The interiors are ruined..." He lamented the state of the car. "You just had to step all over the seat with your shoes on, then make it rain." His expression turned so sad that for a moment Ashimi thought he was going to cry.

"You scratched up the lower part of the bumper before you managed to switch to all terrain mode," Ashimi countered, though she knew it wasn't true. It would take a lot more than a few small rocks and bushes to damage the car's tough armor. The color and gloss was integrated into the material itself so that scratches would have to be very deep to be clearly noticeable. The car's fine interiors were not quite as resistant, especially the plush, ergonomic, designer's seats. "Hey, it's okay, we'll go to the cleaners and the car will be as good as new."

Jonathan sighed sadly in lamentation. He liked moving vehicles, a passion he developed while looking through the schematics of all the vehicles his parents had employed in their hunt for Ash's Pikachu in the past. "Okay," he finally voiced, like a child being promised a lollipop in consolation for a scratched knee.

To be Continued

Daala was in part inspired by Darius Scouter from the amazing Blessed Defiance, the second story in the main Giovanni Chronicles series. The Giovanni Chronicles has a very well written supporting cast, all the characters feel complete and distinct. I highly recommend you read the whole series, (or listen to it as I did), I guarantee you'll enjoy it!

We haven't seen the last of Daala and she's not the only danger lurking around. Next up is Chapter 7: Tower.

Daala: A 15 year old girl from Johto, who now roams the Kanto region, dishing out her own brand of justice as a sort of mask-less vigilante. She has dark skin, honey eyes and black curly hair in pigtails, with two blonde curls framing her face. She doesn't like Team Rocket and knows Ashimi is the granddaughter of its leader...


	7. Chapter 7

Awakening

Chapter 7: Tower

Upon their arrival at Vermilion City, Ashimi requested, "let's stop at the pokemon center. I think I got some mud from when you made that sudden turn."

"Me too... And it was your fault the mud was there to begin with." Jonathan reminded in a joking tone. He wasn't upset about the terrible crime of messing up such a great car anymore, as he had convinced himself that it could be fixed.

After a quick stop at the pokemon center to get themselves cleaned up, Jonathan announced that he was going to have the car cleaned. He would be content watching it and examining any other cool cars that might be in the establishment, but he knew cars only interested Ashimi when they were moving fast. It was the speed itself she loved more so than the means to achieve it. She'd probably get bored watching cars being washed and polished.

The redhead nodded and considered her options for a moment before coming to a choice. "I think I'll have a look around the city and maybe find someone to battle with before heading to the gym."

"Okay, see you later," thus they went their separate ways, with Jonathan heading to the carwash and Ashimi going off on foot to search for possible challengers.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ashimi headed to the Vermilion plaza, where she heard the sounds of a pokemon battle. Two boys around her age had just finished their match. It was Pidgey versus Rattata and the Pidgey won. However, the rodent had put up a good fight and the bird seemed tired. Ashimi made her way through the crowd of kids and teenagers as it began to disperse. "I want to battle too!" She announced.

The boy with the Rattata didn't turn back, assuming the victor was the one being addressed. The boy with the Pidgey shook his head. "Some other time, I don't think Pidgey can take another round right now," he admitted.

"Oh... Okay..." Ashimi realized that the boys didn't really keep more than one pokemon. Though they could battle, they were more so pets, probably not as strong as pokemon that battled more often and were specifically trained to be effective fighters. After the boys had both left and the crowd dispersed, as no challengers stepped up right away, a little boy approached Ashimi.

"Hello," the boy greeted. He was dressed a little oddly with a trench coat, a hat and big sunglasses.

Ashimi giggled, "hey kid, are you playing secret agent?"

The boy smiled, "yup! I'm going to be a secret agent and a pokemon trainer when I grow up. You're a pokemon trainer on a journey, aren't you? I want to go on a journey some day too!"

Ashimi guessed that the boy was around five, it would still be a few years until he could challenge any gyms, but maybe he could keep a pokemon as a pet and train it to get ahead of the game. "Do you have any pokemon?"

"Not yet," the boy replied. "But your pokemon looks super cool! Can I pet him? Please!"

Ashimi laughed, feeling a bit like a celebrity. Though her father had only taken his place as champion behind the elite four on a few occasions, it was enough for him to sometimes be recognized and for kids to ask him about pokemon training and even for his autograph. "What do you say, Pichu?" Pichu hopped into the boy's arms, amused by how enthusiastic Ashimi's new friend was. "What's your name?"

"Zero," the boy replied as he petted the little Pichu.

"I'm Ashimi," she automatically introduced herself with her nickname, not giving it any further thought.

"Your Pichu is awesome, miss Ashimi," Zero complimented. "Do you have more pokemon? Can I see them?"

"Sure!" Ashimi let Furball and Zubat out of their pokeballs. After some deliberation she let Squirtle out too. The little turtle looked around a bit scared, but seeing as there didn't seem to be a battle going on, he calmed down. Ashimi decided not to let Clefable out, least the pink pokemon embarrass her with her usual disrespect.

"Wow! So many pokemon, you must be an amazing trainer!" Zero exclaimed.

"Kind of," Ashimi feigned modesty.

"Can you show me what they can do? Pretty please?" Zero pleaded in a cute childish voice.

"No problem, prepare to be amazed!" Ashimi began to show off some of her pokemon's best traits, such as Zubat's speed, Furball's mastery of various elements and for Squirtle, she just had him retreat into his shell and pretended it was an advanced defensive maneuver that made him almost invincible.

While Ashimi coordinated the three pokemon, Zero offered Pichu some candy. Without any suspicion, the yellow pokemon ate it and felt very sleepy. A small crowd gathered to see the performance, clapping by the time Ashimi's improvised show was almost done. She intended to show off Pichu's power at the end, using his thunderbolt to simulate fireworks, but when she looked for Zero she didn't find him.

Assuming the show was over, the crowd dispersed and Zero remained missing. "Pichu?" Ashimi called out in disbelief. Her phone suddenly played the sound of an incoming text message and she looked at it. "I have your Pichu," the message read. "Meet me at the main Silph building in Saffon City if you want him back. Don't tell anyone, or I can't guarantee Pichu's safety." Ashimi looked around wildly, her eyes wide in shock. "This can't be happening!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, causing several passer-bys to stare at her oddly. She recalled her other pokemon into their pokeballs and began to run.

'My father spent years traveling around with Pikachu, defending him from experienced kidnappers and here my Pichu gets stolen by a kid! What an embarrassment!' With her thoughts racing, Ashimi rushed to the outskirts of the city. 'Silph is controlled by Team Rocket, if I can't get my Pichu back unnoticed, what will grandpa say? He's going to be so disappointed! Why didn't Pichu defend himself? Was he sedated or something? How did I not notice? Maybe if I hurry I can still catch up!' At least, she was in good shape from all the swimming she did.

When Ashimi reached the outskirts of the city, several realizations hit her beyond the haze of the panic. How did the kid know what number to text and why did he challenge her to chase him instead of just running off with Pichu and keeping quiet? "He can't be working alone," she concluded. If the little boy was working for someone else, that someone possibly had a car or some form of fast transportation and no matter how fast she ran, she wasn't going to catch them on foot. As for knowing her number, it had to be someone who had been watching her, someone who had a motivation to watch her. "Daala!" Ashimi gasped. "That little brat must have been Daala's lackey... When I get my hands on them!" She growled angrily. "Note to self, catch a flying pokemon big enough to ride." But for the time being she would have to work with what she had, "taxi!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Night fell over Saffron City and a storm settled in. Ashimi had texted Jonathan telling him that she had some stuff to do and would call him when she was done and ready to go to the Vermilion gym. He had been curious about what her business was, but Ashimi silenced him by saying it was girl stuff he wouldn't understand, though she wasn't even sure what that meant herself.

The taxi pulled over next to the Silph headquarters, which was closed for renovations. The driver whistled, "this is some storm." Lightning flashed across the distant sky and light rain began to fall. "Are you sure this is where you should be, kid?" The taxi driver didn't know who she really was or why she was there. "I thought this place was empty."

"Mostly," Ashimi made up an excuse. "My father is part of the renovation team, I'm going to meet him here." She paid the bill and the driver didn't question her any further. She exited the taxi and went around the building, searching for a way in.

"Welcome..." The back door opened on its own, controlled by the electronics integrated into the whole building. The voice coming from the telecom next to the door belong to that little boy from before, Zero.

Since the building was filled with surveillance cameras and audio detectors, Ashimi new she was being watched. How Daala and her allies managed to take over the building was something she didn't understand. "Where's your leader?"

"My leader?" The boy chuckled. "In the same place where your leader is."

Ashimi crossed her arms, displeased with what she interpreted to be meant as a rude remark, yet it was quite literal. "Where's Daala? She has Pichu, doesn't she?"

"I don't know who you speak of." The Silph building was dim and empty, the voice being projected echoing from everywhere and nowhere.

Ashimi's heart pounded, this was worse than when she faced Sabrina, this time Pichu could be... killed... "Where's my Pichu?!" Ashimi demanded to know.

The boy chuckled again. "He's here, at the top of this building. Come and get him if you dare!"

Of course she dared. Ashimi rushed towards the elevator doors that opened as if inviting her in, then she stopped. If the boy or whoever was with him was controlling the building from its main computer system, it wouldn't be a very smart move to jump into the elevator. She backed away then looked around for the stairs. She dashed towards the door behind which the emergency stairs awaited and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge. Without wasting any time, Ashimi called out Furball. "Furball, cut this door down!" The Meowth exposed his claws, slashing at the wooden door, he kept cutting deeper until the door was no longer an obstacle.

"Stay on your guard." Ashimi looked at the spiraling stairs before her. The lamps were on but only dimly. There was at least more light than in the lobby, but not by much. The girl and her feline companion rushed up the stairs, then suddenly the stairs went flat and they slid down. "This won't stop us!" Furball jumped up on the metal banister and Ashimi held on to it to pull herself up. They made a lot of progress until the lights went out completely.

An odd sound was heard and Ashimi had a bad feeling. Furball hissed and the area was lit up by his thunderbolt. The object that had been rolling towards Ashimi, a wooden barrel, was broken open, spilling a multitude of pokeballs. "Woah!" Ashimi climbed onto the banister, stretching her body on it and wrapping her knees around it. "Okay... This is just like playing on a messed up jungle gym... Furball, you can see in the dark, right?" The feline made a sound of affirmation, his eyes glowing in the darkness. "Use a little spark, I'll follow that light." The golden coin on Furballs' forehead reflected the light as his whiskers moved in the static of the electricity. Ashimi followed him for a while, occasionally hearing more rolling barrels go by.

The banister abruptly became electrified, causing the Meowth and the girl to fall off it and slide down. Another rolling barrel was heard and Furball broke it. Once again it spilled pokeballs in its path, which made it even harder for them to stay on their feet, but it would have been worse if they were hit by the barrel. The banister remained electrified, so Ashimi couldn't use it to hold on to. "Someone has to be throwing those barrels from the top of the stairs. Go Zubat! Take Furball with you and stop whoever is throwing those barrels. Zubat, screech and create a diversion, Furball, since whoever is moving those barrels must be pretty strong, use a water pulse first, then a thunderbolt to make it more effective." Ashimi recalled Furball into his pokeball so Zubat would be able to carry him.

Taking the pokeball along, Zubat flew up the spiral of stairs to the top and released Furball there. They found a Machop had been throwing the barrels, but not for long! While the Machop was distracted by Zubat, Furball emerged from his pokeball and used water pulse. The Machop turned his attention away from the loudly screeching Zubat, but he was too slow. Furball was already charged up to attack and released a thunderbolt without delay. The Machop guard was knocked out instantly.

Ashimi grinned as she heard the sounds from above. Since she couldn't use the electrified banister as support and the flattened stairs were too slippery to stand on, she resorted to crawling her way up. It was slow, but at least she was getting somewhere. Once she reached the top of the stairs, light filtered in from the door leading to the rest of the floor. She saw the fainted Machop and commended her pokemon on a job well done. This wasn't the top of the building though. The spiraling stairs only went so far, since the higher levels were restricted. They shouldn't be closed up too tightly at the moment, because the building was being renovated and operations had been temporarily moved, but she would have to make her way to a different set of emergency stairs.

Ashimi opened the door to the next set of stairs, finding it unlocked, these stairs had a square winding style to them, instead of spiraling. She found the unlocked door to be very suspicious and held out an empty pokeball. She threw it and it collided with the wall, setting off several sensors as it moved through the air. Knives became embedded on the walls of the staircase, a deadly security measure. In the quiet of the night, the soft clicks of a reloading mechanism were heard. "I don't think I have enough things to throw to activate all the knives and who knows how many there are." After trying to think of a way to obtain safe passage, she released Squirtle.

Squirtle didn't like the eerie silent atmosphere and whimpered, his eyes watering. "It's okay Squirtle, this is the night when you learn to be brave!" Ashimi coaxed. The small turtle gave her a doubtful look. "This will be really simple, all you have to do is tug your head, arms, legs and tail into your shell and stay very still. Whatever you do, don't peek out, especially if you feel tapping on your shell, in fact, no matter what kind of conversation you hear, stay in your shell. When it's okay to come out, the password will be Pecha berry." The Squirtle looked visibly relieved. He wasn't sure about how useful this training exercise really was, but it sounded very easy. This was his chance to prove himself, so he eagerly did as he was told, assuming it was some kind of test of obedience.

"Okay..." Ashimi picked up Squirtle like a shield. "Furball, get on my back, Zubat, on my shoulder. I want you two to work together. Furball, try to see through the darkness for any marks on the walls. Zubat, use your super sonic waves to try to feel where the mechanism is hidden, just make sure you don't hit us with them. And Squirtle, no matter what, stay inside your shell until I say the password to come out. Here we go." Ashimi walked slowly and cautiously, crouching and shielding herself and her other pokemon with Squirtle's hard shell as much as she could. Zubat pointed at a spot on the wall and Furball squinted at it and nodded. "Where else?" Ashimi asked in a whisper.

The bat and the cat repeated their examination until they could pin point the location of the nearest series of attack mechanisms. "Furball, aim for the sensors and thunderbolt fry their circuits." Taking care not to shock his trainer, Furball released his electric power towards the trap. "Zubat, what do you sense?" Zubat gave a soft screech of alarm. "As I thought, the traps are too strong to be so easily disabled. The building's renovations are not finished, but they have some pretty good security in place. It looks like the traps only activate when the sensors pick up solid matter, so energy won't trigger them. Okay, I trust you were able to figure out the pattern, let's do this!"

Dashing forward, Ashimi held Squirtle's shell to her upper right and the knives shot from the wall bounced off it. Then she lowered it to her left, to the middle right, lower left, upper left, lower right and she pressed herself against the next door. No traps were triggering, it looked like the space between floors next to the door that led to each floor was safe. "Next round..." Thus it happened, as they went from one floor to another in the upper levels of Silph. They reached the final stretch at last, then Zubat let out a screech of alarm with more urgency than before. Furball used a small thunderbolt, not against the traps, as it wouldn't work, but to point out their location and light the way for Ashimi. "Above?!" Ashimi held the shell overhead and dashed forward, crashing into the door ahead in her haste and pushing it open.

Ashimi took a deep breath and looked over her pokemon. They were all alright. "We made it... Pecha berry." Squirtle came out looking confused and a little dizzy. "You did really well, Squirtle." She patted his head softly. "Get some rest in your pokeball now." She glanced at his shell briefly before recalling him and made a mental note to have the scratches polished off at the pokemon center and have a coat of hardening varnish added just in case. "Zubat, Furball, great team work back there, you were amazing." She hugged them, then placed them on her back and shoulder respectively. "There's no telling what lies ahead, so be on your guard."

Ashimi walked across the dark lobby-like area. She couldn't hear it at the enclosed, reinforced structure of the emergency stairs, but now the sound of the rain invaded her senses as it pounded against the glass windows. The wind had picked up too and thunder rumbled in the distance, becoming ever closer. The room was in an obvious state of renovations with paint buckets in the corners and large rolls of carpeting laying around. She looked at the large door at the end of the room. It was the door to the control center, the most highly secured room in the whole building. She approached the door and it opened by itself.

Inside the control room she found Pichu happily devouring a slice of extra cheese and pepperoni pizza while Zero spun around on one of the swivel chairs in simple amusement. He was still wearing his big sunglasses despite it being nighttime, though he wasn't wearing his vintage movie detective disguise. His hair was blue with orange stripes and he wore a black armor suit with red boots, belt and armbands... and a red R on the chest.

"Pichu!" The little yellow pokemon happily waved his trainer over and motioned towards the large pizza box near by, as if offering her and his fellow pokemon slices.

The screen behind them was the most perplexing part of the scene, as it showed a familiar woman with blue hair and dark eyes, wearing a familiar black uniform with a very familiar red R. The Rocket who went by the codename Pixel appeared alongside two of her pokemon, Prism, a Porygon-Z and Peachy, a Pikachu, who so happened to be the mother of Ashimi's Pichu. "Ashimi, hi! How nice of you to join us!" Pixel greeted casually. "I thank you for your assistance in helping me test the security system's installation process."

"You... what?" Ashimi blinked in confusion. "What's going on? Wasn't Pichu kidnapped? Is this kid a Rocket agent? But he's so young, I thought Team Rocket wouldn't allow anyone to become an agent at the age of five."

"I'm not five," Zero corrected.

"Oh? You're a midget then?" Ashimi grumbled at the interruption, she was talking to Pixel, not him.

"I'm two," Zero finished.

"That's impossible! You can't be two years old!" Ashimi shouted, her patience drained.

"Nope, he's two months old," Pixel's words left Ashimi more confused than ever.

"Zero is not a human, but not quite a pokemon either. He was made and materialized using a program similar to that of Porygon with an enhanced high definition graphics engine that better reflects the current era. His AI was created from the combined brain scans of two humans. He is essentially a prototype virtual android. Unfortunately, since the graphics and human persona take up so many resources, he doesn't have any sort of special powers like a virtual pokemon would. He was made as an experiment for research purposes, but the tech department no longer requires him to stick around... So I'm letting you borrow him for a while. Well, have fun, bye!" Peachy said her goodbyes in turn with her trainer and the screen went black.

"Did grandpa tell her to do this?" Ashimi wondered aloud. "Or did Pixel act of her own accord? Nah, this has to be some random test. Well, since I got to the top of the building I guess that means I passed, and hopefully that will make up for losing Pichu in the first place, right?" She didn't wait for a reply, "right!" She glanced at Furball and Zubat, who had gotten settled in along with Pichu, enjoying slices of pizza. She let Squirtle out, he deserved a snack for his efforts too. While the pokemon ate, Ashimi directed her attention to Zero. "Okay, your mission is done, so now you can be a good little virtual android and behave."

Zero stuck out his tongue. " I'll do what I want!" Zero spun around on the chair laughing and Ashimi fumed.

"Stop it!" She scolded, holding the chair in place. "Listen up, you little brat, and pay attention!" She snatched the sunglasses he was wearing, even if he was probably perfectly capable of seeing everything around him in high definition with them on anyway. Then she saw his eyes for the first time. He had no pupils, or maybe he had no irises. The big glassy orbs looked like the eyes of an anime doll, the circles filled with shades of color in a gradient that was black at the bottom and blue at the top. She gasped then squealed in delight, "look at that high definition! Your face; it's amazing!" The next thing Zero knew, he was being squished into a big bear hug.

To be Continued

Ashimi's last line in this chapter is from Wreck It Ralph, one of the funniest movies I've seen. I love the animation, the characters, the video game references, everything; so I just had to include a fun reference to it and this felt like the perfect opportunity. The part with the barrels was partially based on the original Donkey Kong, the one where Mario was still called Jumpman. The knife trap staircase was in part inspired by the arrow corridor in the game Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, though I'm sure similar scenarios have been present on many games and movies before. We'll see Jonathan's side of the story in Chapter 8: Thunder and Rockets.

Zero: An odd little boy who looks to be about 5 years old but definitely doesn't act like an average little kid. He has spiky blue and orange hair, his eyes have no visible pupils and are colored with a blue to black gradient. He is in fact a two month old virtual android made with a process similar to that used for Porygon. His artificial intelligence was created from the combined brain scans of two humans. He was used for research purposes, but is no longer needed at Rocket HQ.


	8. Chapter 8

Awakening

Chapter 8: Thunder and Rockets

After things were more or less resolved between Zero and Ashimi, they managed to track down an umbrella in the building and intended to leave Silph and spend the rest of the night at the pokemon center, where they had proper beds. Zero didn't mind as long as he had a quiet corner to sit and run his debugging programs and an electric outlet to stick a straw into and feed. He could eat normal food, but he did so for the taste rather than for the energy. He actually wasted energy disintegrating the food once it was in his mouth, as his body had no use for it. Ashimi was very much looking forward to getting a good night's sleep.

When they reached the front exit, no one was out in that weather so no one would see them anyway, Zero paused as if remembering something, then approached the elevator and pressed the button to call it. The doors opened and out crawled a light green haired boy with oddly colored eyes, one being brown and the other being somewhat pink due to lack of pigmentation, though they were still very much human eyes and elicited no special reactions from Ashimi.

The fifteen year old boy dizzily stood up, using the wall for support while Ashimi watched on with questioning eyes. Zero turned towards her and pointed back at the teenager with his thumb. "He followed you here muttering something about becoming the future boss' right hand man. That was when you were battling it out with the stairs. He was actually stupid enough to take the elevator, so I trapped him in and kept the elevator going up and down really fast this whole time."

Ashimi observed that the teenager was wearing a Rocket uniform. He dizzily looked towards her and saluted, or tried to. His hand flew over his head on the first attempt, then collided with his nose on the second, before he finally gave up and just held on to the wall. "I'm here to assist you, Madame Ashimi, loyal as always!"

Ashimi tilted her head in confusion, "do I know you?"

"You don't remember?" The green haired boy looked hurt.

"Of course I know you..." Ashimi tried to come up with a name that matched the face, but she wasn't quite sure. "You're Vincent, right?"

"That's not my name," the boy frowned.

"According to my data his name is... That's odd, I have two entries for that. Is it Cecil or Bartz?" Zero inquired.

"No and no!" The teenager pouted.

"Oh well," Ashimi shrugged. "I don't want any help anyway, I have to go through my pokemon journey my own way. Transportation is okay, but that's just about it and I already have Johnny to take care of that. See you around... um... Squall." She yawned, "let's go to the pokemon center, I want to get some sleep already." Her pokemon were already sleeping in their pokeballs, save for Pichu, who was sleeping on her head. "C'mon Zero, get under the umbrella."

"I'm not going to catch a cold..." Zero reminded.

"It doesn't matter, friends share their umbrellas," Ashimi stated. Zero shrugged, not questioning her logic any further and they both left.

The green haired teenager was left standing there looking frustrated, his name wasn't Squall either. "Jonathan..." He growled the name of his most hated rival.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at Vermilion City, after spending the day making sure that by some twist of fate the carwash employees wouldn't discover the lethal customizations of the car, Jonathan was, for once in his life, ready to stop paying attention to vehicles. He locked the secrets away and set the car's system to blend in, so unless they looked under the hood they wouldn't know and that was locked too, but he was still uneasy, so he had been with the car the whole time. The employees assumed he was just a kid who took his father's car for a joyride and wanted to make sure it was fixed and returned in secret. At least the interiors were as good as new and he had the rest of the night to himself. He wasn't sure what Ashimi's business was that guys wouldn't understand, but perhaps his confusion was all the proof he needed that he would indeed be unable to comprehend whatever it was. Ashimi was a bit of a tomboy most of the time and despite occasionally calling her princess, Jonathan did at times forget that she was a member of the ever perplexing female species.

A storm was hitting Vermilion City harshly and Jonathan considered spending the night at the pokemon center resting. But it was about time to send the boss something good, and if Ashimi returned in the morning wanting to rush towards the gym, he wouldn't have much time to do anything big if he waited. He scanned Vermilion City's official website looking for ideas. The weather report was linked to the front page, which was not surprising given how fierce it was, people would want to know when the storm was expected to pass. The large group of clouds reached all the way to Saffron City, though the storm was still relatively gentle there. Vermilion City was definitely getting the worst of it and people were advised to stay indoors. Ignoring the warning, Jonathan continued examining the website.

After looking through a few pages featuring upcoming activities, holidays and advertisements for the local commerce, he found that there would be an exhibition on a newly remodeled museum not too far from the pokemon center. Fossils had become rarer as time went by and the few that were preserved were already dug up. He had heard stories about how one of Team Rocket's past rivals, Team Plasma, was said to have revived a fossil pokemon originally from Kanto and upgraded it to a whole new level. Rare pokemon fossils were classic valuables that he knew would always be welcomed into Giovanni's collection, so it would be a good idea to steal them.

With that plan in mind, Jonathan put on his Team Rocket uniform and snuck out of the pokemon center through the window... And got soaked to the bone. It was a short run to the museum, but picking the lock with the rain beating down on him so harshly, took longer than he thought. At last he let himself in through the back door and tried to wipe away some of the rain water from his face. "Should have brought an umbrella..."

He moved forward, leaving little puddles of water where he stepped. His uniform this time was black, though he also had a white version he used during the day when dark colors wouldn't make much of a difference in blending in. Yet the bright red R on his chest would still let everyone know what organization was responsible. It didn't do much to help Ashimi turn the public opinion around about Team Rocket in the future, but for the time being there was the present to think about and Jonathan had his duties as a Rocket to fulfill.

He reached the main exhibit room, which had two doorways on the sides, and there he found a figure stuffing the main fossil, a kabuto, into a sack. The person looked ready to get away until the lights suddenly came on. Jonathan ducked at the entrance to the room and observed quietly. The person with the sack was Daala. "Hold it right there!" A blond boy wearing military style clothes called out, he had been the one to turn on the lights from the opposite side of the room.

Daala looked at the new arrival, neither she nor he had noticed Jonathan. "You..." She glared, "you're the gym leader."

"That's right, I'm gym leader Volt and I won't let you steal the fossil!" The blond declared, his teal eyes glaring.

"You fool!" Daala chided. "The Vermilion mayor intends to gift this fossil to Giovanni in exchange for favors from Team Rocket!"

"Johnny?" The sudden whisper in his ear and the warm breath on his neck made Jonathan jump in surprise and nearly yelp.

Fortunately, he swallowed the sound on time and managed to remain quiet. "Dorme, what are you doing here?" She was also in her Team Rocket uniform. He blinked, taking note of a peculiar fact. "How are you dry?"

"I had a raincoat," Dorme pointed at the discarded wet plastic garment a few feet away. "Are you here to steal the fossil?"

"Yes, but Daala, that girl with the sack, stole it first. She said the mayor was going to give it to Giovanni," Jonathan quietly explained.

"That's true, but the boss doesn't want it like that. He wants that guy out of the race and if he can't even guard the exhibit, that will make people think less of him. Volt wasn't a part of this plan." Dorme shook her head. "I don't know how you know Daala, but I've been keeping tabs on her and another suspicious individual. They appear to be working separately, Daala seems to be on her own. I dropped some information about the fossils and here she is. I was going to let her get caught by the cameras, maybe chased by the local Jenny, then take the fossil for the boss."

"I was just going to steal it..." Jonathan admitted. He was curious about the other suspicious person Dorme mentioned, but the arguments and noises from the exhibit room became more intense and caught his attention. Daala and Volt were battling.

"Let's see if Volt is as tough as his brother..." It was clear that Dorme intended to let the battle continue without interruptions.

"Brother?" Jonathan felt somewhat out of the loop. He knew Surge had two sons, but other than the youngest being gym leader Volt, he didn't know anything about the oldest.

"Thor," Dorme spat the word out like venom between clenched teeth.

"Thor? As in General Electro? That's Surge's elder son?" Jonathan did not have pleasant memories of the man. He had never spoken about his family or about anything at all that was even remotely personal. "Everyone just assumes he's a Rocket experiment gone wrong or some sort of angry deity. It's hard to believe that man was actually born from human parents."

"I know what you mean. He's the head of the Rocket military, the most feared Rocket agent trainer in the whole organization. Last summer was hell," Dorme shuddered.

"At least you didn't get stuck with the winter training. Worse two months of my life," Jonathan got nightmares to even think about it. "A bunch of us got fed up with his overly critical attitude and tried to teach him a lesson. There were at least twenty of us between fourteen and twenty years old and he somehow managed to beat us all like it was nothing! I've never been so sore in my life, even my bruises had bruises."

Dorme could feel identified with the experience. "Do you have any idea how many times I had to practice kicking? My feet hurt so much I could barely walk. The rumors say that Thor and Volt don't get along and that Volt is on the fence about Team Rocket, while Thor is all too happy to lead the military. None the less, Volt respects his father a lot."

After their brief conversation, Dorme and Jonathan grew silent, instead focusing on the battle going on between Daala and Volt. Daala had called out her Houndour, while Volt commanded a Raichu. Unlike Surge's Raichu from years prior, Volt's Raichu had been trained for speed as a Pikachu and only just recently evolved. "Raichu, use thunderbolt!"

"Houndour, counter attack with flamethrower! " Daala commanded. The fire and lightning collided, but the electricity broke through the flames, reaching the target. "Houndour!" Attacking from a distance wouldn't work. "Get close and bite him!"

"Evasive maneuvers, Raichu, quick attack!" Raichu sped out of the way as Houndour dashed towards him on the offensive. Moving very fast, the electric pokemon collided with the fire dog from the side, knocking him to the floor.

"Houndour, bite him, quick!" Daala voiced, but it was too late.

"Raichu, Thunder!" The electricity surrounded Houndour, leaving him paralyzed. "Finish him with brick break!"

Seeing as there was no hope in this battle, Daala quickly recalled her pokemon. "Houndour, return!" The Raichu's strike collided against the floor, breaking the tiles. "I'm not finished yet, go Donphan! Roll up and bulldoze that Raichu!" Being a ground type, Donphan was protected from Raichu's electric attacks and he had though armor against his physical attacks. Donphan rolled towards Raichu, who put everything he had into quickly evading.

"Keep moving, Raichu, don't stay still!" Forced to be on the defensive, Volt couldn't see any opportunities to strike.

"It looks like the battle is turning around, wouldn't you say, Johnny?" Dorme turned to look at her fellow Rocket, only to realize that he was no longer next to her. She looked around for him and spotted him quietly making his way over to the sack with the fossil, hiding behind several displays and information panels.

While Daala and Volt were focused on their battle, Johnny grabbed the sack and quietly made his escape. It looked like he was going to make it back to Dorme unnoticed, until the effects of running around in a wet uniform caught up to him and he sneezed very loudly. He quickly dropped behind one of the displays, but knew he wouldn't be able to remained unnoticed for long. Alerted by the sound that didn't belong, Daala and Volt began to look around. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the sound in Jonathan's direction. He wasn't visible from their angle, but it was obvious that there was enough room for someone to be hiding there.

"Achoo!" Dorme loudly faked a sneeze, jumping out of the doorway. She held her raincoat bundled up in her arms as if hiding something, though it was actually empty. "Oops... bye!" She attempted to make a hasty escape as if she had the fossil with her, but Daala and Volt wouldn't let her go that easily.

"Donphan, stop her!" At Daala's command, Donphan changed course and rolled towards Dorme.

"Raichu, catch her first!" Raichu dashed forward, stepping in front of Dorme. At the same time, Donphan came up from behind and tripped her up, rolling on top of her. Raichu got caught under Dorme and was flattened under Donphan's weight as well.

"Ow..." was all Dorme could say. As she fell she had dropped the raincoat in front of her, right on Donphan's path, and the heavy pokemon had rolled over it.

"You destroyed the fossil!" Volt rushed to examine the discarded raincoat, blaming Daala's pokemon for the incident. However, when he looked at the raincoat, he realized it was empty. "It's... not here..."

A bright light from the other side of the exhibit's main room caught Daala and Volt's attention. Behind a curtain of fire a figure could be seen holding something. "Is this what you're looking for?" Jonathan asked in an exaggerated fierce voice , knowing they couldn't see him clearly enough behind the fire to be able to recognize him later. Daala most likely already knew him, as she knew Ashimi, but he didn't want Volt to know he had been involved in the fossil theft later when he tagged along with Ashimi for her gym battle. He turned around and began to walk, with Foxtrot creating more fire effects on his way. Once the fire was enough to cover their escape, they made a run for it. Hopefully, they would leave Dorme alone and chase after him, since he had the fossil.

"Ow... Walking through the fire like a video game villain... That's so hot..." Dorme meant it both literally and metaphorically, plus Jonathan didn't abandon her. Granted, she had done the same thing for him first, but she was still happy he would help her escape by providing a distraction.

"Donphan, after him!" Daala commanded. Seeing as there was someone standing there moments prior, Donphan assumed that the curtain of fire was very thin and he could roll through it with some help from his defense curl and if he caught a bit of the fire, it would be put out so quickly he wouldn't even feel it. The elephant pokemon didn't realize that the Flareon had added more fire to the hallway beyond the first series of flames, closing off the route so that they couldn't be followed.

"Raichu, thunderbolt them before they get too far!" Volt urged. Donphan rushed forward into the fire while Raichu ran to get closer to the hall to try to get a shot at the retreating thief.

While the others were distracted, Dorme slowly got on her feet and called out a pokemon. "Hitmonlee..." The pokemon kicked the air energetically, ready for a battle. The command that his trainer gave him, was not what the fighter was expecting. "Carry me..."

Finding more fire than he could handle, Donphan rolled back the way he came, covered in flames. Raichu didn't expect the ground pokemon to go on the retreat and was caught off guard with Donphan running over him and leaving some of his flames on the electric mouse. Raichu panicked just as much as Donphan was and started rolling around the floor much like Donphan. The two pokemon were focused on putting out the flames and not paying attention to each other or their trainers. Just as the flames on the pokemon were put out, Donphan ran into Raichu, Raichu automatically released an electric attack and they knocked each other out.

Though the pokemon were safe from the fire the museum wasn't. The fire had spread over the room, leaving only a small space to escape through on the other side. Coughing from the smoke, Daala and Volt recalled their respective pokemon and rushed to get out of the building. They saw no sign of the Rocket girl who had served as a decoy. Outside, the rain had stopped and Daala wasted no time in throwing a pokeball high with the skill of a big league pitcher. The ball landed on the ceiling of the shop next to the museum and a large pokemon emerged from it.

Just as Volt was about to stop Daala, officer Jenny called out to him, arriving at the scene on her motorcycle. The fire department got there as well and they quickly got to work on putting the fire out. In that small moment of distraction, the large pokemon that had been released on the ceiling extended a pair of vine whips and lifted Daala onto the ceiling as well. She recalled the grass type and ran, jumping from one roof top to another. "Come back here!" Volt shouted after her.

"Volt! What happened here?" Jenny demanded to know.

Volt frowned, even if he managed to catch that girl, she wasn't the one who got away with the fossil in the end. There was no sign of the real thief, whom he assumed to be a Rocket, as the girl who created a diversion was wearing their uniform. They were both gone, the fossil was lost. "Team Rocket..." He growled at Jenny, "it was Team Rocket."

Hidden on the rooftop of the building across the street, Jonathan and Dorme watched the scene unfold. "Looks like everything worked out in the end... Sort of..."

"Speak for yourself..." Dorme grumbled, rubbing her sore back. "Hitmonlee, you really have to learn to give those massages were the therapist walks all over the patient's back. I could use one of those right about now," she breathe. "About that fossil..." She eyed the bag with the prize.

"I thought you might bring that up... I was kind of planning to run off with it," Jonathan admitted, then added, "until I messed up by... ah... achoo!" He sniffled and continued. "I guess I owe you one, so it's yours."

Dorme snatched the sack away and looked inside. "I'm no archeologist, but this thing looks pretty valuable, the boss will be pleased. I guess I could mention you helped me get it so he doesn't think you're slacking off too much. We make a pretty good," she was interrupted by his sneeze, "team..."

"I guess so... But right now I only one to team up with a soft pillow, this cold is making fast progress." Jonathan looked at the horizon where the first few rays of the sun were barely beginning to peek out. "If Ashimi decides to go to the gym in the morning, it's going to be a long day." He began to make his way down from the roof, before it became too bright for it to be an effective hiding place.

"Ashimi..." Dorme paused, unsure if she should say anything.

"What is it?" Jonathan inquired.

His curiosity was on her and Dorme knew that she wouldn't be able to take it back now. "Yesterday at the plaza, some kid stole Ashimi's Pichu and she ran off in a panic like a crazy person. I tried to follow the boy, but he slipped away and before I knew it, I lost track of her too."

"Ashimi is... achoo! In trouble?" Jonathan coughed. "Why didn't you say so? I have to find her!" He tried calling Ashimi's cellphone, but by that time, the situation at Silph was resolved and Ashimi was sleeping at the pokemon center with her phone on silent. "There's no answer, but her phone's GPS says she's in Saffron, why did she go back there?" Not waiting for a reply, or even expecting one, Jonathan hurried towards the parking lot behind the pokemon center where he had left the car.

Dorme frowned as she watched him go. "Me and my big mouth..."

To be Continued

The names Ashimi and Zero incorrectly guessed for the green haired boy, are all from Final Fantasy. The pokemon mentioned with Team Plasma are Kabutops and Genesect. Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII and Shizuru from Phantasy Star Portable 2 are some of the video game villains who have done the whole walking through the fire scene. Volt and Electro's name were chosen based on electricity, obviously, and Electro's nickname, Thor, is based on the mythological character. Next: Chapter 9: A Fiery Spirit.

Volt: Surge's 13 year old son. Like his father, his team's main focus is electric types and he recently became the Vermilion City gym leader. He has teal eyes and blond hair. His greatest rival is his older brother, General Electro alias Thor, who is quite the military man.


	9. Chapter 9

Awakening

Chapter 9: Fiery Spirit

Jonathan stopped in front of the pokemon center at Saffron City. Ashimi's cellphone GPS was still located there, she hadn't moved the whole time. He parked the car and got out, he wasn't in such a rush anymore, as he figured Ashimi had to be okay if she was still at the pokemon center after all that time. Surely she had recovered Pichu, or else she would still be, as Dorme said, running like a crazy person, looking for him. She wouldn't have lost her cellphone, right? Who in their right mind goes anywhere without their phone? He had the sense to throw on a jacket to cover his uniform's red R before walking into the pokemon center.

"Welcome... Oh dear..." the resident Joy walked around the counter and placed her hand on Jonathan's forehead. "You have a fever, you should be going to a human doctor instead of coming here," she scolded.

"It's not that bad," Jonathan assured. He knew he always looked a mess when he caught a cold and being short of sleep didn't help, but it's not like he was dying or anything.

"Johnny?" Ashimi cheerfully came from the guest area, with Pichu on her head, followed by Zero. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, he's a friend of yours?" Joy interjected. "You should get him to a doctor!"

"No worries, I'll take care of him!" Ashimi grabbed his arm to make him hurry out, away from the nosy Joy. Once outside, she asked, "what are you doing here? And are you as sick as you look?"

"Looking for you and no?" Jonathan replied with a yawn. "Why didn't you tell me Pichu was stolen?"

Ashimi's face turned bright red while Zero smirked. She gave the virtual boy a glare and grumbled, "you'd be in trouble if you weren't so adorable." Before Zero could say anything as a reaction, she continued, "I had the situation under control!"

"Who's the kid? And why didn't you just tell me, Ashy, I could have..." The world turned blurry.

"Johnny!" Suddenly she was angry and her abrupt shout seemed to be enough to make him focus. "What did you do? Stay up all night?"

"Yeah, you could have told me," despite being out of it, Jonathan knew that Ashimi sounded angry, though he didn't believe he was in the wrong. "I'm supposed to be there for you, princess."

"Stop it!" Ashimi felt a mix of anger, frustration and guilt. "I don't need to be taken care of like a little child. I don't need to be protected by a Rocket bodyguard. I don't need to be a princess. I don't need you!"

"Ashy..." He wasn't sure what he should say to the outburst.

"Go home... Go home and rest. I'll continue my journey alone as I should." Before she could be contradicted, she added with finality. "Don't follow me!"

"Fine!" Jonathan turned away then stopped.

They both looked at the car until Ashimi spoke. "I know, I know, grandpa won't let me drive yet, he thinks I'll get myself killed... You can take care of the car. I'll find my way around." He looked back at her for a second unsure, so she felt the need to insist. "Quit treating me like a kid!" Then she ran as fast as she could.

Zero blinked in confusion at the drama he just witnessed. Then after a short pause, he ran after Ashimi. He found that she had stopped further down the street and was talking to someone on her cellphone. "Don't worry, I'll be okay on my own. Yeah, we're still friends..." Her expression showed that she wasn't entirely sure of if she was telling the truth or not. "Okay, bye..." She ended the call and let out a breath. Jessie could get a bit protective at times, surely it wouldn't take long for her to find Jonathan and drag him home to rest. Then again, tired as he looked, he might not put up much of a fight. She looked at Zero and tried to put on a smile. "I'm going to win a badge at the Vermilion City gym, want to come watch?"

"Confident, aren't you?" Zero laughed. "Okay, I'll tag along, it's not like I have any plans anyway."

xoxox xox xoxox

Ashimi and Zero were on their way to Vermilion City. The girl occasionally muttered something or other about over-protective friends and proving that she's a capable pokemon trainer who doesn't need people to go out of their way for her. She was moving on foot, taking out her bad mood on any wild pokemon that dared to cross her path. She didn't catch them though, she was picky and preferred to keep only a few pokemon with her that she could really focus on training. "C'mon Squirtle, you have to be braver than this! Just shoot a water gun!"

The little Squirtle stepped forward behind Pichu and Furball with Zubat flying overhead. Clefable had been called out to train, but she was as uncooperative as ever, so Ashimi had to shove the stubborn pink pokemon back in her pokeball. Squirtle looked at the target ahead, he knew there was a wild pokemon hiding in the tall grass and wondered if it was a Pidgey. Maybe if it was startled by the water gun, it would fly away and Squirtle wouldn't have to actually battle it. "Squirtle squirt!" The little turtle tried to be brave, even if it was for just a moment as he stepped into the front line. 'Get ready, Pidgey!' It warned, to give himself confidence more so than to threaten the wild pokemon.

Zero grinned, he was able to understand Squirtle's words, having been made in a similar process to that used for the virtual pokemon Porygon. "Not Pidgey..." He whispered, quietly enough that Squirtle didn't hear him. Ashimi was standing closer to him and did hear, reacting with a curious look, wondering if he had some kind of integrated, basic pokedex functionality. Zero waited expectantly, the pokemon hiding in the tall grass was definitely not a Pidgey and it probably didn't have the temper of one.

After taking a big breath and solidifying his resolve, Squirtle shot a water gun attack at the tall grass. The pokemon hiding there let out a yelp of surprise that was distinctly unlike that of a Pidgey. The creature, which was actually a Mankey, rushed out of the grass and glared at the attacker. With a fierce war cry, the Mankey dashed towards Squirtle, who could only step back and retreat into his shell in fright. The Mankey pushed past the other pokemon, knowing that the Squirtle must have been the culprit for the water gun, and began to attack relentlessly.

"Squirtle, fight back! Do something!" Pichu, Furball and Zubat looked at Ashimi as if asking if they should interfere or give Squirtle the opportunity to fight. Upon hearing the commotion, a group of Mankey and Primeape rushed over to join the other Mankey in bullying Squirtle. "What? Primeape too? This is too much, help him!"

Without any specific commands, as Ashimi had called out very hastily in sudden worry, Zubat wasn't sure what to do. Pichu's first instinct was to use a thunderbolt attack and, seeing his intention, Furball decided to do the same. Given the large number of opponents, they went all the way with the electricity, the bolts colliding and spiraling up into the sky after passing through the unfortunate group of Mankey and Primeape. Zubat was caught by the electricity and fainted. The bat fell and landed on Pichu's head. The yellow pokemon had been focused on the attack and was startled into making it stronger. Furball felt the increase in electricity and added his own burst of extra power, the electricity piling up and flashing high into the sky.

"Zubat, return!" Ashimi recalled the fainted bat. "Looks like Squirtle got caught in the middle of that too, return!" Now she had two knocked out pokemon and one disobedient pokemon, but at least the remaining two were something fierce. "We need to work on your team coordination." Pokemon battles were mostly one on one events and in the occasions when teams were allowed, generally each trainer commanded one pokemon. But Ashimi was a born multi-tasker and liked to train her pokemon all at once, so that they could all progress and make good use of the training time. Thus in the wild, she sometimes guided more than one battle at once. She didn't overwhelm her opponents with numbers, as that would defeat the purpose of seeking a challenge, but she didn't wait for one battle to be over before starting another if an opponent made its presence known.

"Ashimi, I think all that lightning disturbed their flight..." Zero pointed upwards. "They're strong... very strong," he warned.

"Who?" Ashimi looked up, expecting to find a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto passing overhead with peculiarly unfortunate timing, but what she saw was something else entirely and it was quite unexpected. The large looming shadow descended upon her with great speed, snatching her from where she was, leaving Zero and the pokemon on the ground. The Charizard spun around rapidly in mid air and even tossed the girl up, much to the worry of those who watched from the ground below. With just as much agility, the Charizard snatched her up again in mid air and landed, placing Ashimi safely on her feet. At the same time, two other Charizard landed as well. "Charizard!" Ashimi giggled, "it's so nice to see you! She smiled at the other fire pokemon as well. Charla, Charchar, Chari!" She greeted them one by one. "Look at you, Charchar, you've gotten bigger since I last saw you!" She looked around, she had assumed Chari was with the family. "Chari? There you are! You're a Charmeleon! That's awesome!" Chari gave a short greeting that hinted at her bad mood, but also implied that it had nothing to do with Ashimi herself, or her pokemon.

"You know them..." Zero stated more so than inquired. Seeing as it was okay, Pichu and Furball came over to greet the family of Charizard (and Charmeleon) as well.

"This is my dad's Charizard, well, he's a free pokemon who comes and goes as he wishes, but dad was his trainer. Sometimes he comes to visit with his family, it's been a while since I last saw them." Ashimi introduced each one, "this is Charla, she motioned towards the adult female. Their son, I call him Charchar." Though now he was a Charizard, he had been in Ash's care for a while in past years when he was a young Charmander. He had always been very strong, though cocky. "And here's Chari," Ashimi pointed at the female Charmeleon, who was clearly the youngest of the family.

Charizard gave Zero a curious look and sniffed him, speaking something that only pokemon could understand. "I guess I would be like a Porygon, but different, I'm a virtual human prototype, but they didn't make anymore, it's easier to just train pokemon and humans to do stuff than to try to stabilize one like me." Zero quickly moved on, disregarding the statement before more details were requested, "yes, I can understand you. Really? I bet she'll be happy to hear that!"

"What's going on?" Ashimi curiously asked. "Charizard over here is saying that he was taking his daughter to train with Ash, but if you're already on your pokemon journey, then she can tag along with you, if you don't mind."

"Are you kidding? That's totally awesome! Welcome to the team, Chari!" Ashimi cheered. Chari still looked a bit cranky, and seemed unsure. She glanced at Pichu and Furball, then appeared to reach a decision and nodded towards Ashimi. If the pokemon trained by Ashimi were strong, as they had witnessed, then the little girl she met as a Charmander was no more, the daughter of Ash was a real pokemon trainer now.

As the youngest in a family of strong Charizard, she felt that she was challenged to measure up to them. Her older brother, who was particularly gifted with power at a young age, had been nothing but fully supportive. He was cocky, and had the power to back it, but he also had a soft spot for his little sister. As for Chari, she was beginning to become frustrated by her progress. She was by no means weak, but the comparison between her and her family was still ever present, especially when it came to her gifted older brother and her father's achievements alongside Ash. When her father suggested sending her out of the Charicific Valley to spend some time with his previous trainer, she was all too quick to agree. She could use a break from all the expectations and it would be a breath of fresh air to be around pokemon other than her own kind. Perhaps it was for the best to be trained by Ash's daughter. Even if she had considerably less experience, she was apparently in the middle of a journey and the traveling would make the training interesting. Chari looked forward to the day when she earned her evolution and soared across the skies instead of having to ride on her parents' or brother's back.

Ashimi celebrated the reunion with a picnic, then after a while, Charizard, Charla and their son took off, to give Ash a visit at Cerulean City. Chari hopped into a pokeball without protest and soon Ashimi was on her way. She didn't capture any of the knocked out Mankey. They didn't seem particularly strong, at least not in contrast with Pichu and Furball, albeit that was a pretty tough comparison. Then again Squirtle wasn't exactly strong either, or rather, he didn't even try to be, but Squirtle was given to her, he was already her pokemon and Ashimi couldn't simply abandon him. The Mankey had their pack in the wild, they could take care of themselves and become stronger, but Squirtle wouldn't last long in the wild.

xoxox xox xoxox

Once again, Ashimi arrived at Vermilion City. This time she didn't have any encounters with Daala during her travels from one city to another and for that she was thankful. Another day had gone by, so she headed to the pokemon center. Clefable was as uncooperative as ever, having dinner away from the rest of the group. Her constant glares in Ashimi's direction made it clear that the issue was with her, rather than with the other pokemon or Zero. Chari was feeling better, since she was on her way to getting stronger and just the thought of having a trainer made her feel reassured. Yet her attention was caught by the Clefable's behavior and the Charmeleon curiously approached and started a conversation. She wondered why anyone wouldn't be thrilled to be trained by Ashimi if she truly was similar to her father. 'What are you so mad about?'

Clefable opened her mouth to harshly say it was none of her business, but she thought twice about it when she took a better look at the Charmeleon. Though she was calm, Clefable had a feeling that the Charmeleon he heard the others call Chari, didn't have much patience for rude retorts. Chari didn't needlessly pick fights for the sake of testing her power, that was more so her brother's department, but she did have a temper of her own. Her wrath was not ignited without reason, but when she was given what she considered to be reason enough to feel challenged, Chari was fierce in combat. 'I didn't want to be caught...' Clefable finally admitted.

'Have you tried to tell Ashimi that? I don't think she's the type to keep pokemon around against their will. If you're having trouble letting her know, that boy can understand us.' Chari pointed out.

Clefable shook her head. 'I could escape if I wanted. She lets me out for walks now and then and only calls me back to the pokeball if I hit her. Besides, I'm sure you noticed that the pokeballs are not locked.' It was a mechanism that was later implemented to the design of pokeballs. Even if they still looked basically the same on the outside, with a shinier glow to them, the inner changes were much more significant. The capsules came with a locking mechanism that could make it so that pokemon could not pop out on their own.

Albeit most pokeballs allowed pokemon to hear what was happening outside, some had the option of putting them in a state of suspended animation for longer travels during which for whatever reason they couldn't be allowed out, or in the case of the creature in question being caught as a collectible rather than a companion. Ashimi wasn't like that. As pokemon digitalization became more stable, advanced and commonly used, establishments like that of Gary Oak were less needed as places where pokemon could be kept, fed and exercised. As a result Gary did more researching than caring for pokemon than Samuel had done in his time. It also raised concerns about the pokemon's well being, albeit it was assured that suspended animation was painless and the pokemon would wake up just fine even if they remained that way for a long time. Given those facts, it was a generally accepted technology and quite a convenience, except for the lethal damage that would occur should the servers storing the pokemon be damaged or destroyed, but as that rarely happened, few people thought about it.

None the less, Ashimi thought that it wasn't very nice to keep pokemon endlessly frozen in time, only to wake up in a world decades older than the world they knew, if they were ever woken up at all. Catching many pokemon brought a whole new set of implications. She knew her father's pokemon were well taken care of, let out of their pokeballs regularly to run and play in the extensive Oak land at Pallet Town, but she found the whole rotating through pokemon strategy to be somewhat ineffective. Like Ash, she loved pokemon and like Giovanni, she craved power. Though power could be achieve by numbers, she figured enough pokemon were being caught by Team Rocket already, she knew her grandfather had vast databases full of pokemon in digital storage, frozen in time. If they were to become hers eventually, she had her hands full already. Yet at the same time, it wasn't enough.

Ashimi wanted an elite team of her own. She found the balance by catching only a few pokemon and focusing on making them strong. She would think of numbers later if it came to that, for now, she would concentrate on her elite team and make them as powerful as they could be. Clefable was her pokemon too, her pokeball was always unlocked but she refused to come out uncalled. Then when she was called, she misbehaved or acted rudely, yet she didn't leave. The pink pokemon's attitude perplexed Ashimi and she wondered if she was being judged as a trainer. She wondered if Clefable was observing her before deciding if she should simply leave, or become a part of the team. Ashimi wasn't one to turn down a challenge, so she didn't tell Clefable to leave.

Chari looked at Clefable with confusion. 'I don't understand. If you don't want to be here and you know you can leave, why don't you? You can return to your home if you want.'

'I can't... That girl... She was willing to fight me herself, not just with her pokemon and she doesn't back down or show any fear when I attack her. She didn't catch my younger siblings even though she could have, it's like she wasn't interested. She's done that a few times since, passing up the opportunity to catch pokemon. She even uses her healing supplies on wild pokemon when she thinks the battle was a little too harsh, even if she intends to let them go. She's pretty tough for a human, but strangely gentle at the same time. I want to see just how sincere she is,' Clefable confessed. 'I was told humans are not to be trusted, I was told they are weak creatures that hide behind our power, but she seems so different... I'm not convinced though, she has to be an exceptionally tricky human and I'll unmask her even if I have to follow her to the ends of the world!'

Chari was reminded of a story her father once told her and her brother. He was mistreated by his original trainer and rescued by Ash. As a Charmander, he relied on Ash, but as soon as he evolved, he became confident and developed an air of superiority. He didn't need Ash anymore, he assumed, but Ash never gave up on him, even after Charizard cost him a crucial battle at the Indigo League, which ended his quest for the championship that year. Ash continued battling and when Charizard realized he did need him, Ash was always there. He had earned Charizard's trust and loyalty, but he wasn't selfish about it, allowing Charizard to pursue his own path in life, instead of making the pokemon follow him. That's why Charizard would always return to Ash, their bond could never be broken.

'What is it?' Clefable asked after a few moments of silence had passed. 'What are you spacing out about?'

'I was just remembering something,' Chari shook her head. It would be of no use to try to convince Clefable that not all humans were the same, that was something she would have to see for herself. At least Chari's doubts were gone, it sounded like Ashimi was indeed living up to the legacy of her father and adding her own style to it.

"Chari! Come watch videos with us!" Ashimi called out from the opposite corner of the guest room at the Vermilion pokemon center. "Just a few more and then we'll get some sleep, we can't spend the entire night watching battles on Poke Tube when a real gym battle awaits in the morning! You can come too, Clefable, but only if you behave." Clefable glared, then looked away in response, making a growling sound of displeasure. Chari left their corner and joined Zero and the pokemon as they crowded around the tablet laptop Ashimi held. "Hey... This is... It looks like it's from a camera that was set up at Nolan's... It's one of dad's battles... Articuno versus Charizard! Hey Chari, that's your dad!"

As the video played, everyone was focused on it, but Ashimi took a moment to look at Chari, who seemed to be hanging back, not wanting to draw attention all of a sudden. She placed her arm around the pokemon, offering her support and whispered reassuringly. "I know what it's like to carry big expectations, but I won't give up and neither should you. Who knows, maybe someday it'll be you and me taking down a legendary." Chari looked into Ashimi's eyes and at that moment, she knew beyond a doubt that traveling with her was definitely the right thing to do.

To be Continued

Charrizard's son appears in Don't Give Me Diamonds, though as I said before, you can still understand this story even if you haven't read that one. This story marks his daughter's first appearance in any of my stories. Charizard is my second favorite pokemon after Pikachu, so I'm glad to welcome one of its evolutionary family into Ashimi's team, plus it will be a fun relationship to explore. We also learned more about the progress of the world's technology and Clefable's attitude... Charizard's battle against Articuno was in the anime, you can find it on Poke Tube, I mean You Tube, if you haven't seen it. In the next chapter, Ashimi is off to the Vermilion City gym, as for Johnny... don't worry, we'll hear from him again soon...

Here's another mini bio, even if the character was only briefly introduced... The anonymous John Doe: The son of Butch and Cassidy, a 15 year old boy whose name no one seems to remember, and their guesses are all over the place. He was born on the same day as Johnny, being only a few hours older, and claims to have been overshadowed by him since that very day. He wants to impress Giovanni's granddaughter to climb the ranks, but things don't often go his way. He has light green hair and unusually colored eyes, one being brown and the other being somewhat pink (due to lack of pigmentation) though they are still very much human eyes. I wonder if anyone will guess his real name before this story ends... Next up Chapter 10: A Storm of Fire and Thunder. 


	10. Chapter 10

Awakening

Chapter 10: A Storm of Fire and Lightning

Early in the morning, Ashimi marched out of Vermilion City, much to Zero's surprise. "Weren't you ready to head to the gym?"

"I was," Ashimi admitted. She surveyed the area and found what looked like a good spot to fulfill her purpose. "But yesterday's pokemon battle videos made me think about the mishap with Zubat and Squirtle getting electrocuted, plus the fact that I've never actually battled with Chari. Those battles we watched were so epic, I want to battle like that too. It's true that I won't be battling with everyone at the same time at the gym, but thinking about what I won't really need to do at the gym, just reminded me about what I will need to do."

"Which is?" Zero prompted.

"Face a very electric pokemon guided by a gym leader, and my previous gym leader battle taught me not to lower my guard. Electricity, that's the theme of the Vermilion gym, so my usual main fighters won't have much of an advantage in their own element. Okay, so Furball is not actually an electric type, but he does use thunderbolt a lot. Luckily, I have a new power house on the team and it just so happens that she can learn the move dig. Chari, I choose you!" In a beam of red light, the Charmeleon emerged from her pokeball. "Look at those awesome claws, these will lead us to victory! Chari's going to be a super fast digger with some training and if she's underground, then she'll have the perfect defense against electric attacks. Then she'll jump out with her fire like an erupting volcano and win the badge! I know I was feeling impatient yesterday, but I'm still making pretty good time on the journey and the gym isn't going to get up and walk away if I spend a few extra days training. If there's something I learned by battling Sabrina, is that I need to be prepared. Everything felt pretty easy until that point when she took me by surprise, and I'm not lowering my guard again!"

Zero clapped, "quite the speech, but can you back it? I'll be able to sense Chari's movements underground with my pokedex functions and time her speed."

"Great! You're more useful than a regular pokedex app!" Ashimi cheered. It was clear to see that she was very eager for the training and so was Chari. "Ready Chari?" She pumped her fist in the air, the Charmeleon mimicking the motion with a determined roar."That's the spirit! Okay, look at what I do," Ashimi began moving her arms as if she was swimming. "Try doing this, but underground. Move through the ground as quickly as possible. We'll practice until you can glide through it as easily as if it were water!" Chari's eyes went wide. "Okay, bad comparison, not water," Ashimi laughed. "Um... lava? Mud? Pudding! You need to get strong until the dirt feels as soft as pudding!" That sounded much better than water, so Chari looked eager again. "Alright! Go everyone!" Ashimi called out the rest of her pokemon and Pichu jumped off her head to join the others.

"Everyone at once?" Zero blinked.

"This way the training will go by faster and they'll all get stronger!" Despite Ashimi's optimistic energy, Clefable was cranky as usual. She went to slap her trainer, but Ashimi caught her wrist and gave her a serious look that made the pokemon freeze in place. In a few years her glare might just be as piercing as Giovanni's, or almost. "You think I wouldn't be used to this by now? You can join us in training and become super strong, or you can go sit around being cranky, but if you ruin this for the others, back in your pokeball you go. If you insist on sticking around with us, you'll have to learn to be friendly." Clefable pulled her hand back and stomped away in a huff. She picked a comfortable tree and sat under its shade.

Ashimi turned her attention to the rest of her pokemon and instructed Chari, Pichu and Furball to start digging tunnels parallel to each other for some initial simple practice. Zubat didn't look quite up to the task of digging. "It's okay little buddy, your specialty lies in your speed," Ashimi tried to cheer him up when she noticed he was looking kind of uncomfortable. He wasn't as strong as the others physically, but he was very fast and had quite a loud mouth for screeching and using sonic waves. "We still need to work on some more attacks though, you have plenty of targets here. Air slash those trees with everything you have!"

Chari, Pichu and Furball popped out of the ground at Ashimi's feet. She observed the disturbed ground that indicated their path. "Let's keep practicing, push the dirt aside and move through it smoothly, try not to show it on the surface. That was just a straight line, but you'll have to move in more directions than that. Try to follow me from underground as I move around. Hey, Zero, can you do what I do and tell me how closely they're following us?"

"Sure," when Zero agreed, he didn't imagine what Ashimi would be doing.

"Okay, here we go!" Ashimi started cheering loudly and jumping like a Buneary, to make her location clear to the three pokemon following her from under the ground. "C'mon Zero, you said you would!" Zero looked around, confirmed beyond a doubt that there was no one else around, and followed suit. "Let's go Zubat, chop that branch over there with air slash!"

'She's really training them all at once,' Zero observed. 'Well, except the stubborn Clefable, but still...'

After some time, they stopped for lunch, then resumed their training again. Ashimi started marching instead of jumping as the underground movements improved. They spend the whole day at it, then returned to the pokemon center for some much needed rest and bathing. Chari was, understandably, not too fond of water, but Ashimi managed to coax her into carefully washing with a sponge.

Ashimi returned to her training the next day as well, delaying her gym battle again. She continued practicing digging with Pichu, Furball and Chari and more slashing with Zubat. Clefable was out of her pokeball, but still unwilling to cooperate. They moved all over the area surrounding Vermilion City, until they had enough digging practice. Then it was time to move to the next level. "Flamethrower! Thunderbolt!" Pichu and Furball dug up a hole and let their electricity flow upwards through it. Chari didn't even bother digging herself up and instead blasted through the ground, creating a small volcano shape, from which flames burst. "Alright! You're doing great! You too Zubat, keep slashing at those trees! Chari, Pichu, Furball, don't stop moving, again, thunderbolt and flamethrower!" The pokemon moved underground, once again releasing their attacks into the surface with great force. "Okay, one more day to work on the timing and speed, then we'll be good to go." Ashimi decided.

The last day of training before the gym battle passed successfully, Ashimi practiced with a sort of hide and seek game where her pokemon were supposed to avoid being found underground while she tried to guess their position. Zero would tell her if she had been right, while the pokemon dug more tunnels and used already made tunnels to move around.

xoxox xox xoxox

Finally, Ashimi went to the Vermilion gym at last, with Zero tagging along to watch. It didn't take her long to introduce herself, state her business and declare, rather loudly, that she intended to win a thunder badge. Soon she found herself on the opposite side of the battle arena of gym leader Volt, who called out his first pokemon. "Go Raichu!"

"I'm so looking forward to this battle!" Ashimi could barely contain her excitement. She wanted to see if her training would pay off. Albeit Sabrina was on a league of her own, Ashimi still learned from her to always be prepared. "Chari, I choose you!" The Charmeleon eagerly stepped forward. "Let's get things started with a flame thrower.

"Raichu, dodge it and use thunder!" Volt knew that his Raichu was strong and fast. Though the opposing Charmeleon looked strong, he was still feeling confident.

"Be careful Chari, out of the way!" Chari dodged, just barely managing to get away from the electric currents. Her fire had missed, but this was only the beginning and she had plenty of tricks left. "Use inferno, make a wall of fire!" with a big flaming breath, Chari isolated herself from Raichu on the other side of the arena.

"Going into hiding? That's not going to work, Raichu, break through that firewall with thunder!" Volt called out. Having learned from a previous experience, Raichu didn't get too close to the fire and instead tried to ready his electricity to go the distance.

"Chari, stay moving, rapid fire flamethrower!" From the wall of fire, which Chari continuously fed emerged a series of fireballs like cannon blasts from the walls of a fortress.

"Dodge it Raichu, stay moving too!" Volt urged. The Raichu ceased his attacks and instead went on the defensive. Volt wasn't alarmed though, he knew Raichu had plenty of stamina and his opponent was making a big effort to keep the flames going. 'She'll tire out in no time, then we'll finish her off,' he thought.

"Her flame is decreasing..." Zero quietly observed.

"Chari, break through!" Ashimi made a digging motion that Volt didn't quite catch, as he couldn't see beyond the light show of the battle. As Chari ran, releasing fire balls, the wall of flames slowly diminished, as she was no longer feeding it. She aimed at the floor until she broke through the flooring and dug into the soil beneath.

When the fire wall was gone, Volt was ready to send Raichu on the attack. Raichu was both fast and strong, but he tended to stop moving when he focused his power, even if he could react quickly and keep running immediately after. Chari could spit out a barrage of fireballs at a full run. "Where did she go?" Volt looked at his opponent, Ashimi looked as if she was in deep concentration. "Underground..." Volt realized. Ashimi appeared to be examining something in the arena, but her line of sight didn't correspond to anything but empty space. That boy who was with her, Zero, met Volt's eyes with his unusually colored gaze and chuckled.

Ashimi gave Zero a sideways glance, read something in his expression and fixed her gaze on Raichu, so as to not give away Chari's underground position with her eyes. Then suddenly, she shouted, "now!"

Volt didn't have time to think about how odd Zero's eyes were and wonder where he got those contact lenses, because he could only assume that's what they were. He wasn't sure what Ashimi was calling out for her pokemon to do, but he knew it couldn't be good for them. "Raichu, move!" The electric pokemon darted away, but the sudden burst of flames from the broken floor caught him in the hind legs and tail. Then just as suddenly, the Charmeleon was gone. "Don't stay still, Raichu, there's no way she can dig faster than you can run. Raichu shook off the pain and kept running this way and that. "Looks like our little friend's too scared to come out, go get her out, quick attack!"

"Flamethrower!" Raichu dove into the tunnel, only to jump back as he was assaulted by a burst of flames. Raichu rolled around, putting the fire out, his fur was scorched, but he wasn't out of the battle yet. 'Chari's stamina is low from all the fire she used, her flame...' Ashimi mused. 'I can't use any more fire attacks, I've already pushed her too much and I'm not about to cause her to faint from over exertion. But she's strong, she can finish this in a different way while her fire recovers.'

"You know, don't you? You watched her train, calculated how long it would take to dig," Zero knew that the tunnel was bigger than it appeared to be, there was space set up for another surprise attack. "You followed her without seeing her, and you know how much stamina she has." It was normal for him to have that information due to his peculiar nature, but for a regular person to know all that, they would have to pay very close attention and have sharp instincts. 'Using a lot of fire early on, digging the tunnels in advanced, using the last of the fire and making it look like fire was their intended final offensive move. It would be hard not to focus on all that fire, but it's okay that it's used up, because it did what it had to do. Fire from a fire pokemon is too predictable, Volt would expect it the second he saw Chari. The display of power didn't fit the true defensive strategy or the finishing move, which wasn't meant to be a fire type at all.'

"Almost there... Come out, Chari!" The Charmeleon emerged from the tunnel at her trainer's signal.

"Raichu, Thunder!" Volt immediately attacked without a second to waste.

"Down Chari!" Ashimi urged.

"Not this again!" Volt was getting very fed up with the strategy. He wasn't going to send his Raichu to get blasted with fire again, but he had to do something. Yet before he could think of what to do...

"Come out and finish this!" The arena burst open as Chari jumped out. no more fire, she had used too much before and her flame was still recovering, but through her panting, she could still fight. "Dragon claw!" Raichu tried to run, but the pain of the earlier burns made his normally speedy movements feel sluggish. Chari attacked with everything she had, putting her all into the finishing blow, slicing away with her sharp claws.

For Raichu it was too much, he had fainted. "Raichu..." Volt watched in disbelief. "C'mon Raichu, get up! We almost have her!"

"It won't work... Chari may be tired, but don't you see Raichu's burns? He'll just hurt himself if he tries to use his speed..." Ashimi pointed out.

"Raichu...return!" She was right, Volt realized. "It's not like your pokemon is doing much better though, look at her flame."

"I know... Well done Chari, come and rest," Ashimi recalled her pokemon as well.

'I used to think power was all I needed, but my father's story about his battle with Ash Ketchum made me think that I also needed speed. The speed to strike fast and the power to strike hard. It's not enough, Ashimi rendered Raichu's power ineffective and chipped away at his speed. No matter what advantages you have, they can be lost... Perhaps that goes for you too, brother, someday, I'll beat you,' Volt quietly thought.

"Hey! Earth to gym leader Volt! Do I get a badge?" Ashimi waved her hand in front of his face.

Volt was woken up from his thoughts to see that his opponent had made her way across the arena and now stood in front of him waiting expectantly and impatiently. "Yeah," he presented her with a thunder badge, "you earned this."

"Awesome! I got another badge!" Ashimi cheered and made a victory pose. She looked over to Zero who gave her a thumbs up and smirked, it would look cocky on an older boy, but on this small creature with doll-like eyes and multicolored hair, she thought that any expression could only look cute. She would have to get him a cute little gijinka hat to wear sometime soon. Her smile suddenly faded for a moment as if something was missing. Johnny wasn't there to cheer for her, though he must be feeling better from his cold by now.

Her pensive look turned into stubborn determination. She was still angry at him, she recalled. She had to prove that she could take care of herself. Then she laughed when she noticed that Volt was watching her, as if trying to figure out what in the world was going through her mind. "It was a fun battle, we'll have to do it again sometime, okay?" She quickly blurted out the words before anyone had the opportunity to ask her what her silence and the expressions that rapidly crossed over her face were about, not that Volt could possibly have a clue anyway, but Zero could be rather observant if he wanted and he knew about Johnny.

"Yes, I would like a rematch one day," Volt agreed. They shook hands in good faith and Ashimi left the Vermilion City gym with one more badge.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, it didn't surprise Ashimi too much to see Volt when she and Zero were leaving the pokemon center, after Chari recovered. Given their battle, he had a good reason to be there and probably dropped off Raichu while she and Zero were celebrating with ice-cream. Ashimi had left Chari at the pokemon center and since she wasn't sure if a fire type who used up nearly all her fire recently would like an ice-cream cone, she brought her back a cupcake instead. "Hey Volt, got your Raichu all healed up?"

"Yes..." Volt replied, as if his mind had been elsewhere, yet there was a look of realization in his eyes, as if he had found exactly what he was thinking of looking for, or rather who. "Actually, I've decided to go on a journey. My father was away on business at Johto, but he'll be back tomorrow, I'm sure he won't mind stepping out of retirement for a while and taking care of the gym." He couldn't ask his mother to mind the gym, her team of pokemon didn't fit the theme at all. With Wailord, Steelix, Beartic, Mamoswine, Snorlax and Aggron, she didn't have a single electric type. As for his older brother, he wouldn't even ask, General Electro would surely be busy with Team Rocket stuff that Volt would likely have a hard time justifying, if he ever tried, which he wasn't going to. He somewhat understood the necessity of Team Rocket to an extent, the world had become dependent on it after all, but was that truly the only answer?

"Really? Maybe I can battle him!" Ashimi cheered.

"Figures..." Zero commented with some amusement.

"Hey!" Volt crossed his arms in indignation. "I'm the official gym leader and you already won a badge, isn't that good enough?"

"Oh, it's not like I'm in a rush to leave Vermilion City. It won't take long to..." Ashimi paused. A part of her wished she had kept the car, but he knew she would be tempted by its speed. While Jonathan loved speed as much as any teenager, he could control the need for it with the notion that if they had an accident Giovanni would have his head. As for Ashimi, deep down she knew her impatience would get to her and she'd probably run over a few unfortunate pokemon with some crazy improvised shortcut, then she'd feel bad about it and her grandfather would scold her because she could only have the car for the journey if she didn't drive it until she was sixteen, or until he thought she was ready and said it was okay if he decided to shorten her wait. "Actually, it might take a while to get to Celadon City if we're walking at least part of the way, so I should be on my way after all."

"Do you mind if I come?" Volt asked, taking Ashimi by surprise. "I want to train harder and it's been a while since I had my Indigo League journey," he elaborated. He couldn't explain it, but his determination to become a better pokemon trainer was stronger than ever.

"I don't mind, you could give us a ride on your car," Ashimi suggested hopefully.

"I don't have a car, I'm only thirteen..." Volt pointed out.

"What!?" Ashimi exclaimed in surprise. Zero blinked at her reaction more so than Volt's revelation. She figured he probably had Volt's age on a file or something and already knew, or he was honestly somehow not surprised. Given that Volt was looking at her strangely because of the outburst, she continued. "You're taller than Johnny and he's fifteen, and not a short fifteen year old either."

Volt crossed his arms, unable to understand what was ever so unbelievable. "some people are taller than others," he stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah, I guess, and I suppose you're still not as gigantic as your father, probably won't be..." Ashimi mused aloud.

"Hey!" Volt wasn't sure how to react to that, but he knew he should form some sort of complaint.

"Oh, I didn't mean that in a bad way. I think Surge is totally cool. I wouldn't have considered battling him if I didn't have a lot of respect for him," Ashimi assured.

"That... That's not it..." Volt frowned. Strange as it was, he was actually bothered more so by her theory that he would never be as tall as his father, his older brother was. It was silly, yet it was another thing in which he couldn't beat his brother. Sure, he was tall, but in comparison to Surge and Electro he was short, never mind that most people were tiny by that comparison.

Ashimi waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn't, she shrugged it off. "Let's get walking then, we have a long way to go!" She headed out of the pokemon center with Volt and Zero following.

Zero watched the scene unfold, ever observant as was his nature. 'I bet Ashimi misses that friend of hers, Johnny, and she probably doesn't remember her little outburst right after we left Saffron City which ended in her ranting at her cellphone, without actually having a call active, and blocking him. She's probably wondering why he won't text her... Oh well, she'll figure it out eventually.'

"What are you snickering about, Zero?" Ashimi looked back at him as they made their way down the street.

"Nothing," Zero put on an innocent smile. Ashimi brushed off her suspicions and continued on her way, yet the mischievous glint in her eyes made his AI algorithms yield the result of strongly recommended caution.

To be Continued

There you have it, Ashimi won another badge. Though she does tend to rush in on many occasions, she is also capable of planning and plotting when the side of her that takes after Giovanni surfaces. No mini-bio in this chapter. Most of the important characters have been introduced already. There's Volt's brother, General Electro aka Thor, but he's more of a supporting character and there's the suspicious individual Dorme had been investigating, but there's not much I could say without spoiler so yeah... See you next time! Chapter 11: Unexpected Alliances 


	11. Chapter 11

Awakening

Chapter 11: Unexpected Alliances

Determined not to speak to Jonathan until he decided to speak to her first, Ashimi rushed through Saffron City in a taxi. It was the fastest route to get to Celadon City, though she was tempted to just swim round the peninsula's border. She didn't know if virtual people could swim, but she was probably enough of a good swimmer to carry Zero on her back if she had to, though they could probably get a boat or something. But that would be silly, she refused to metaphorically cross the road just so she could avoid walking directly next to Johnny, but she also refused to get out of the cab until she carefully examined the street to make sure a certain blue-violet haired boy wasn't around. Volt wasn't sure what in the world was going on, but he had a feeling that the cool and confident trainer who had bested him in battle was having a rather childish moment.

Volt didn't have time to give it too much thought during the taxi ride though, as his gaze kept going to Zero and how still he was, as if in a trance. Lights seemed to flash in his odd eyes which he blinked only purposefully and never involuntarily. He stared at the light and thought he could make out the vague silhouettes of ones and zeros. That lasted until Ashimi commented on the video that had been playing on her tablet, looked to him to see why he wasn't replying and realized he had been ignoring her pokemon battle conversation. She preceded to attempt to elbow him in the ribs, which ended up being in the stomach since he was noticeably taller. Thus the trip continued with such little antics taking place now and then, but still, nothing of vital importance occurred during the taxi ride or their inevitable short stops along the way.

Eventually Ashimi, Volt and Zero arrived at Celadon City. Ashimi was thinking about going straight to the gym, but a message on her phone made her pause. Earlier, Volt had received a text that made him cringe, but had gotten over it quickly enough, calling it nothing and not revealing what it was about. Now for Ashimi there were the usual words of encouragement from her parents and grandmother, but also something else, a message from her grandfather. Giovanni only ever messaged her if he had a reason to, and the reason was often very good or very bad. She wondered if her progress wasn't fast enough or if he somehow knew she was going on foot and taxi and disapproved of her inability to work with the Rocket agent that was supposed to be assisting her. Yet Giovanni didn't mention anything about it. She didn't doubt he knew because he found out about everything, albeit he appeared to be ignoring the situation and leaving it up to her to resolve.

Giovanni's message was actually somewhat humorous in tone, which was a pleasant surprise for Ashimi. 'Surge emailed me saying you destroyed his gym and inspired his son to become your follower. Good job on both accounts, here's a reward.' Ashimi laughed and showed Volt the message to see his reaction.

"What? I didn't say that! I told dad I was considering traveling with you to the next city. I figure he'd know who you are since he knows Giovanni and Ash and... Well, there's my brother's job as Team Rocket's military general." Volt wondered just how upset about the mess left behind at the gym his father really was. He gave him a scolding, not really for the result of the battle, but because of the state the gym's floor was left in, which was his job as the official gym leader to repair, but he didn't actually tell him to go back and fix it, instead advising him to make the best of his journey. Volt was on the fence about Team Rocket and the same could be said about his opinion on Ashimi at first. Before their battle, he didn't really know her, aside from knowing of her name and existence, so he didn't judge her until now. When she won he was impressed with her skill and resourcefulness. He began to think she wasn't bad at all, but that wasn't really the point. The point, or rather points, were what his father thought and what Giovanni thought.

What if Surge was allowing this journey to encourage him to join the Rocket military and hopefully achieve a rank like that of his brother? He kept talking about how they couldn't just pretend the Rockets weren't there and how the best they could do was join them and thus help shape them, turn them into something better over time, but Volt wondered if it was possible to achieve that by serving the Rocket empire, rather than somehow facing it. Albeit how exactly it could be faced was not something he knew the answer to. As for Giovanni, was he encouraging Ashimi to try to turn him to their side? Would she try? No, she didn't appear to be sneaky like that and if she had some plans, showing him the message would be counter-productive.

"Well, it's decided!" Ashimi suddenly declared. "We're going to the Celadon City shopping center! I might as well put this reward to good use! Hey Volt, since I couldn't have gotten this without you, I'll get you a present. Oh and Zero, I'm going to get you the cutest gijinka hat!" There it was again, that glow of mischief in her eyes. Zero took an automatic step back, but no one seemed to notice. Ashimi looked at her phone again to see if there were any more messages and found something odd... Blocked messages? Her service provider was Team Rocket, their satellite had the best anti spam technology with real Porygon-Z sorting the messages, rather than a program.

Ashimi didn't need to block anyone, so why was there something other than a zero there? She gasped, suddenly remembering that in a moment of anger she had blocked Johnny. She unblocked him and looked through the messages, but it seemed like he was busy with Rocket business and that she should call him when and if she wanted him to return. The stubborn side of her wanted to just wait for him to show up like he always did, but she knew that wasn't fair. She was the one that told him to leave her alone after all, so she could prove herself. Maybe her battle with Volt and the acknowledgement she received was proof enough. If that was the case then it was time to make peace. She sent a message and put her phone away, glancing at the case as she did. She knew Johnny was probably in the middle of Rocket business and had to get it done before joining her, but that was okay. Then with renewed determination and cheer, Ashimi hurried to the Celadon City shopping center...

xoxox xox xoxox

Two hours later, Volt left the Celadon City shopping center running like a panicked maniac. Ashimi pouted and watched him go. "All I did was ask him to try on a gijinka hat..." Zero walked up next to her and pointed towards someone who happened to be hidden behind a mountain of plush toys.

Ashimi walked around it and found Dorme, giggling and enjoying some pictures on her phone. Dorme looked up from her task and shrugged. "Did you know Volt is Thor's little brother?"

"Thor?" Ashimi inquired.

"General Electro, from Team Rocket," Dorme specified.

"Oh, him..." Ashimi had heard rumors about the general and he didn't sound anything like Volt. "So why were you taking pictures of Volt in hats?"

"If he grows up to be like his brother, I'll have blackmail to defend myself," Dorme grinned victoriously. "He probably noticed the pictures and thinks Thor bullied me into spying on him or something. He was probably afraid I'd report he was lazing about trying on hats instead of training to recover from his recent defeat. The progress report of your journey was meant for Giovanni, but you know how the Viridian pokemon doctor is, Laiki has a talent for intercepting gossip and shared the information with a few of us. Also, pretty good training session before the gym match I'll admit, but I've been training too!"

"Alright, I'll take that as a request for a rematch!" Ashimi assumed, though she wasn't far from the truth. "There's only one problem, Volt left and it's going to be difficult carrying all my shopping bags on my own. If I can just get them to the pokemon center, I can mail them from there."

Dorme crossed her arms with a look of disapproval. "I'm not going to carry your stuff around. Why did you buy so much gijinka stuff anyway? Just look at all this... All those poke-hats and dolls and... An eeveelution charm bracelet, it's so cute! Ehem..." Dorme put on a serious expression again, after her small fangirlish outburst. "I'll help you carry your things for a price..."

"The bracelet?" Ashimi sighed, already knowing the answer.

"Good offer," Dorme smiled.

"Oh, alright... C'mon Zero, we're ready to... go? Zero?" Ashimi spotted the boy staring off into space, tiny lights reflected in his eyes. "Zero, what's up?" She shook his shoulder as if to wake him.

"Oh... Hey... I was just doing some debugging," Zero replied.

"But you did that during the whole taxi ride. Are you okay?" Ashimi frowned in concern.

"It's nothing!" Zero smiled, though it was a lot more than nothing. He was only a prototype and not entirely a successful one. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," Ashimi put a Pichu hat on Zero's head, "now we match."

Dorme observed the scene with curiosity. That boy, his hair, his eyes, his chibi-like form. "Aw, what a little cutie, he's like a doll."

"He's a virtual boy made by Team Rocket, not quite a Porygon though, but he does have integrated pokedex functions," Ashimi patted Zero on the head as if he was her brand new toy.

"A virtual being... Made like a Porygon, but human? I had no idea Team Rocket could do that. I want one!" Dorme squealed.

Zero pouted, which only made him look cuter. "I'm not just a doll, you know."

His claim was met with a chorus of "aw!" from Ashimi and Dorme.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ashimi, Dorme and Zero made it to the pokemon center and dropped off Ashimi's purchases, then they went out to find a spot for Ashimi and Dorme's rematch. They found a spot to have their battle in front of the Celadon gym, which was at the moment closed. "Go Hitmonlee!" Dorme released her fighter from his pokeball. "This time I'll win! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!"

"I wonder if the gym will be open tomorrow..." Ashimi stared at the sign on the door as if she had momentarily forgotten what she was doing.

"I detect the presence of pokemon inside, though I can only track them if they are outside of their pokeballs. Venusaur and Exeggutor were called out just now," Zero revealed.

Dorme glared daggers at her opponent. "Never mind the gym! You should be thinking about our battle!"

"Huh? Oh right, this should be a good warm up!" Ashimi wondered if she could get Clefable to battle, she hadn't really made any progress, but it couldn't be forced. Thinking better of it, she decided to send out her Meowth. "Furball, I choose you!"

The doors of the gym suddenly opened and a pair of vine whips emerged from the darkness within wrapping around Ashimi and Dorme, pulling them inside. "After them!" Zero hurried inside, followed by the surprised Hitmonlee, Furball and Pichu, who had fallen off Ashimi's head when she was suddenly taken.

The Celadon gym was like a green house on the inside. The scent of flowers was all around and the feeling of humidity hung in the air. The vine whips released Ashimi and Dorme to stand on one side of a pokemon battle arena. On the other side there were two girls. One of them appeared to be the gym leader, Kirameki, wearing one of the elegant kimonos she was known for. Her long straight black hair reached down to her waist and her light brown eyes had a sharp look to them, unlike the gentle kindness she was rumored to possess. "You have selected Meowth and Hitmonlee," Kirameki spoke. "Let the battle commence!"

"What?" Ashimi and Dorme exclaimed in confusion. Zero, Hitmonlee, Furball and Pichu watched the scene, unsure of how to react. However, what shocked them the most was not the gym leader's unexpected declaration of a team battle, but the identity of her partner. "Daala!" Ashimi and Dorme exclaimed simultaneously. They gave each other odd looks, as if questioning how the other knew her.

"I've been investigating Daala's actions. She seems to be an odd combination between mask-less vigilante and pokemon trainer for hire, kind of like a traveling mercenary of sorts, but without the oversized sword," Dorme explained.

"If you've been following her, then you must have noticed she's out to get Team Rocket, especially me it seems." Ashimi realized that would explain why she kept running into Dorme. Even if Daala took on other jobs on the side, Ashimi was her target and Dorme was investigating Daala while taking care of a few other Rocket duties, so it was to be expected that they'd run into each other. However it didn't look like Dorme was trying to directly confront Daala as much as keep an eye on her movements, as if trying to get information from her indirectly. That could only mean that what Ashimi knew was only a part of something bigger.

"Get your head in the game, Ashimi," Zero cautioned.

Ashimi woke from her racing thoughts and focused on the present. Dorme had said something, but she only half heard it and now Kirameki was speaking. "Miss Daala's personal business is irrelevant to me. I have hired her as my partner in battle and that is all there is to it." She giggled cutely, as Kirameki was known to do, but it felt forced, like an act. "Should you choose to forfeit the battle, I shall deny you the chance of obtaining a rainbow badge."

"That's not fair!" Ashimi protested, "it's not like I was going to back down anyway!" She would have the element advantage if she sent out Chari, but Kirameki had already decided that the selected pokemon were Meowth, aka Furball, and Hitmonlee. It didn't matter, Furball was strong, he could still win, but what about Dorme? Ashimi looked at her, the problem wasn't her skill as a pokemon trainer, it was the aspect of effectively working together.

"Looks like they want to take us both out at once. I won't fall that easily, try to stay out of my way, Ashimi." Dorme hastily begun the battle. "Hitmonlee, use jump kick!"

"No, don't!" Ashimi called out, but it was too late.

"I told you not to get in my way!" Dorme snapped. Hitmonlee dashed forward and jumped into the air. It looked as if his kick was right on target.

"Venusaur, grab him with vine whip!" Daala's pokemon stretched out her vines and caught Hitmonlee in the air.

"Exeggutor, tie up Hitmonlee with grass knot!" Kirameki followed up.

Hitmonlee was tossed aside, wrapped in vines. Ashimi let out a breath with an, "I told you so..."

"Venusaur, charge up your solar beam!" Daala made good use of the distraction to prepare for the next attack.

"Don't underestimate me!" Dorme growled. "Break free, Hitmonlee!" The pokemon struggled for a moment, then drew his legs apart, breaking the vines, and hopped to his feet. "Blaze kick!"

"Use egg bomb, Exeggutor!" Kirameki called out in a hurry. Her pokemon reacted fast and released the explosive sphere towards Hitmonlee.

"Jump over it, Hitmonlee!" Feeling energized and ready for payback, Hitmonlee jumped high, his legs glowing with the heat of the upcoming attack.

"No, don't jump over! Roll under!" Ashimi called out.

"Solar beam!" Daala's Venusaur released the massive beam of energy, which collided with its target.

Hitmonlee fell to the ground in pain. "Hitmonlee! Ashimi, stop meddling and do something!"

"I would if you weren't planning to have Hitmonlee turn on Furball the second I send him out there!" Ashimi shouted back.

"What?" Dorme was taken aback, but she had a hand in the cookie jar expression that revealed Ashimi's theory wasn't wrong. "How did you even know?"

"Easy, that look on your face is like a pokemon using nasty plot," Ashimi replied. "That and the fact that you kept eyeing Furball instead of looking at your opponents. They dragged us here from a distance with vine whip. Plus from her position at the far end of the arena, Venusaur would have trouble aiming low because she'd probably end up hitting the ground before reaching the target, but shifting to the right, left or up wouldn't be much of a problem."

"Oh..." Dorme frowned. She hated to admit it, but those were pretty good observations.

"Incoming!" Zero reminded them that a battle was still actively taking place.

Exeggutor had released a series of seed bombs right at Hitmonlee before he could recover from the solar beam. "Furball, get Hitmonlee out of there!" The Meowth rushed into action, pushing Hitmonlee out of the way. He got hit a few times with the seed bombs as a result, but Hitmonlee was shielded from further damage, the fighting pokemon probably wouldn't have been able to take a hit like that after all he had endured. "Exeggutor's long range attacks are a problem."

Dorme clenched her fists as her sides and looked at the battle intensely. Blaze kick would have the type advantage, but Hitmonlee would have to get close to get a good hit in and then it would have to be a very strong one. "Hitmonlee, meditate and get ready." Though the area was open to attacks, Hitmonlee trusted in his trainer and sat cross-legged, closing his eyes. "I'll take him out, just give me one shot."

Ashimi looked at Dorme unsure, considering her offer for a moment. If she was done playing the rival and ready to battle seriously, could she keep her word? Hitmonlee was strong, but he was at his limit. Daala and Kirameki were on the attack again, there was no time to consider this further. "Alright, one shot. Furball, thunderbolt full power non-stop!" Furball was surrounded by electricity, shooting off one bolt of lightning after another without rest. The power was overwhelming, though it was consequently depleting Furball's energy reserves fast. Daala and Kirameki were forced to go on the defensive, doing what they could to give their pokemon directions in dodging the incoming onslaught. Even Zero was far less quiet than usual, cheering along with Pichu.

Hitmonlee opened his eyes, feeling energized. He got on his feet and looked at the storm of electricity before him. "Go Hitmonlee!" Dorme sent him on the attack. Hitmonlee dashed forward, just as Furball's thunder storm died down. "Blaze kick!" Before Exeggutor could recover, Hitmonlee delivered a devastating blow that knocked him out completely. "Well done, Hitmonlee!"

"No way! Exeggutor return!" Kirameki looked frustrated and angry, her deadly glare a far cry from the delicate and serene expression the gym leader was said to always wear.

"It's not over yet!" Daala's voice rung out furiously. "Venusaur, earthquake!"

The ground began to shake violently. Furball was lightheaded from all the energy he used and couldn't react right away. "Hitmonlee, grab that cat and jump, go for the final strike, hi jump kick!" Dorme urgently commanded. Hitmonlee scooped Furball into his arms, taking the beginning to the earthquake's effects on by himself. Then he jumped and with the last of his energy aimed his final kick at the center of Venusaur's head. Exhausted from the effort and from all the damage he took, Hitmonlee fainted at Venusaur's feet, but his last effort was not in vain.

"Venusaur, finish this, tackle them!" Daala urged.

Furball didn't have any more energy to give after the series of massive electric attacks he released. But he could still use his claws, even if he was exhausted. "Furball, slash Venusaur to bits!" Before Venusaur could recover from the daze of Hitmonlee's kick, Furball went on a relentless attack with the last of his energy. Venusaur cried out in pain, but was unable to defend herself and finally succumbed to defeat. Furball was left breathing heavily, barely able to stand after the great strain, but he was feeling satisfied. "Yes! We won!" Ashimi cheered, her voice mixing with Zero and Pichu, and even Dorme joined the victorious celebration.

Kirameki slipped away while they were enjoying their victory and it was Daala who got their attention. "Well done, but your victory will be short lived. Go Houndour, set this whole green house of a gym aflame!" Leaving a wall of fire to cover her exit, Daala made her escape through the gym's back door.

"Hitmonlee, return!" Dorme hastily called back her pokemon.

"Furball return!" Ashimi recalled her pokemon as well, and called out another one. Squirtle, I choose you!" The flames were spreading fast, with plenty of plants that made perfect fuel for the fire. Squirtle squeaked in fright and retreated into his shell. "You've got to be kidding me, not now!"

"Never mind the gym, we need to get out of here!" Dorme urged, coughing with the smoke. She dashed towards the front doors of the gym only to find them locked. "Why is this closed? Where did Kirameki disappeared to anyway?" They had been so focused on Daala's attack that they haven't thought to look for the gym leader.

"Maybe you can knock the door down with a pokemon?" Zero suggested.

"I can knock it down myself!" Dorme attacked the door with a series of hard kicks and forced it open. "I guess Thor's training paid off after all, but I still hate that guy. Hey, Ashimi, let's get moving!"

"I can't!" Ashimi was heading deeper into the spreading flames, with an uncooperative Squirtle in her arms. "I heard someone calling for help, maybe Kirameki is still in here after all."

"I thought she was the one who ran off and locked us in. Daala went the other way so it couldn't have been her," Dorme rushed to join Ashimi despite her arguments. "We have to get out now."

"Ashimi, are you sure you didn't just hear Daala trying to confuse you?" Zero guessed.

"No, I'm sure I," Ashimi coughed through the smoke. "I'm sure I heard someone. Chari, I choose you!" The Charmeleon emerged from her pokeball. "You're a fire type, so the heat won't bother you as much. There's someone trapped here, could you get them out? I think the voice came from that way." Chari nodded and dashed through the flames in the direction Ashimi pointed.

Fed up with the situation and Squirtle's inaction, Pichu hopped into Squirtle's shell and shocked him out. The little turtle jumped right out of his shell, leaving a surprised Ashimi holding the empty shell. In his panic, Squirtle started shooting his water gun in every direction, soon diminishing the flames. Chari returned from her rescue mission, helping Kirameki make her way to them. Fortunately, Squirtle's wild water gun rampage proved to be strong enough to put out the rest of the flames. Chari looked at the empty shell her trainer held, blinked in confusion, then looked at Squirtle. Their eyes met for a moment before Chari closed her eyes and covered her face. Squirtle turned bright pink, then rushed back into his shell where he hid.

"I didn't even know Squirtle could do that..." Dorme finally voiced.

"I believe it is rare, but yes, a few Squirtle have been found to be able to come out of their shell completely. In this case it's not surprising because the shell is fake," Zero explained.

"Fake?!" Ashimi loudly exclaimed.

"Yeah, maybe his original shell was broken by an accident or a bigger and tougher pokemon who tried to make him dinner," Zero theorized. "Maybe that's why he's so scared."

"A shell-less traumatized Squirtle, you sure got the short end of the stick with that one," Dorme laughed.

"Maybe he'll grow a new shell when he evolves into Warturtle." Ashimi hoped so for Squirtle's sake. She only got a glimpse, but that scar on his back looked nasty, the poor dear must have suffered a lot at such a young age. 'Maybe this Squirtle was given to me on purpose to see how well I could train him,' Ashimi thought. "Don't worry Squirtle, I'll help you conquer your fear and you'll be strong!' With that promise in her heart, Ashimi return Squirtle to his pokeball.

"Well I guess you learned not to hire someone like Daala," Dorme huffed.

"What are you talking about?" Kirameki looked both frightened and confused.

Upon taking a second look, Dorme noticed something that would have been obvious if not for all the oddities going on. "Your kimono is a different color."

Chari gave a short explanation, which Zero translated. "Chari says this girl was tied up when she found her."

"Then the one we battled did escape the gym through the front doors," Dorme realized.

"I don't know what's going on," Kirameki softly voiced. "There was a red haired girl, she attacked me. I tried to fight her off, but she knocked out my pokemon, then she knocked me out too. When I woke up I was tied up and the gym was up in flames!"

"A red haired girl..." Ashimi mused aloud.

"Not like you, her hair was crimson red instead of red-orange," Kirameki clarified.

"She must have been the fake Kirameki, a wig and a kimono was all it took to trick us. I can't believe they got away," Dorme frowned in frustration.

"But we beat them in battle!" Ashimi tried to look at the positive side.

Kirameki let out a tired breath. "At least it's all over. I thank you for saving me and putting the fire out. It looks like I'll have a lot of rebuilding to do around here. It's not much, but please accept these rainbow badges as a token of my gratitude. It sounds like you beat the trainer who was able to beat me, so you've more than earned them." The rightful Celadon gym leader pulled out two badges from the sleeves of her kimono and gave them to Ashimi and Dorme. Though Dorme wasn't there for a badge, she accepted it anyway and just played along, while Ashimi made a victorious pose. The Celadon gym would be closed for a while for repairs, but at least the real Kirameki wasn't injured and her pokemon would recover.

To be Continued

Dorme's mention of an oversized sword is a reference to the various mercenary video game characters who like to carry big swords... I never get tired of them. In Bulbapedia, Hitmonlee's attack appears listed as hi jump kick rather than high jump kick, it's probably because of the character limit or something, but I decided to go with the name from the game. As with my previous story, I've been using Bulbapedia for reference information for the battles and some creative license for the attacks like they do in the anime. Many thanks to the people who contribute and maintain Bulbapedia, I wouldn't be able to write pokemon battles with more than a few tired old attacks without it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, this story is already past the half way point, but there are still most twists and turns to come! Chapter 12: I'll Fight For You 


	12. Chapter 12

Awakening

Chapter 12: I'll Fight For You

Ashimi, Dorme and Zero returned to the Celadon pokemon center, where their pokemon were allowed to rest and recover. The two girls and Zero settled into one of the rooms to talk. "After Hitmonlee is ready to go, I'll be leaving," Dorme announced. "It looks like our rematch will have to wait."

Ashimi looked into the other girl's eyes. "What do you know about all of this?" She glanced at Zero, "and you?"

Zero shrugged, "don't look at me, I haven't been sent to investigate anyone, I just hang around."

Ashimi turned her questioning eyes back towards Dorme, who sighed. "I've been following Daala because of her actions as a sort of vigilante and more so because of her vendetta against Team Rocket. I don't think it's anything personal, but rather she's one of those people who just doesn't want Team Rocket to rule and made it her business to disrupt the organization. We think that Daala is part of a group and I've been tracking her while keeping a certain distance, trying to catch her in the act of contacting her allies."

"Who's we?" Ashimi interrupted, noting the plural when Dorme mentioned the group theory.

"The higher ups at Team Rocket," Dorme revealed. "Of course, something like this wouldn't slip under the radar. I've heard rumors of a gang from Giovanni's past that resurfaced years later and wasn't noticed until they caused trouble. Team Rocket won't make the same mistake twice, the executive board is keeping an eye on this matter."

"Tempest..." Ashimi quietly voiced. "That was the name of the gang from long ago, I've been told the stories. But grandpa made sure to hunt down every last one of them. Plus it was a long time ago, many of them would have passed away by now and the few that are left will spend the last of their days in jail. Do you think this is related to those stories?"

"No, that was a lesson learned, this is something new," Dorme explained. "The group is believed to still be very small and Team Rocket's not the only one tracking them. Sabrina's organization, the Espers, has been involved as well, but to what extent, not even the Rocket executives know."

"What about the girl with crimson hair?" Ashimi inquired further.

"She's another suspicious person I've been investigating," Dorme revealed. "Up until now, I had thought she and Dorme were working separately, but I guess my theory was wrong. They're pretty misleading, those two, especially the redhead, really slippery. As if I need another reason to dislike redheads," Dorme half joked.

Before Ashimi could retort, there was a knock on the door, so she instead ended up saying, "come in."

Nurse Joy entered with Pichu and the pokeballs that held the other pokemon. "Here you are, they're all better now. Don't stay up too late," Joy left after hearing a chorus of assurances that they would go to bed early, which she was well aware were not true.

As per her habit during her time of rest before going to sleep, Ashimi let all of her pokemon out of their pokeballs while Dorme clipped her pokeballs to her belt. Clefable didn't attack her trainer this time, instead leaving the room silently through the window. She had heard everything going on at the Celadon gym from her pokeball. Even when Squirtle acted like a useless coward, despite being the best equipped to deal with the fire, Ashimi still didn't abandon him. Then she learned of Squirtle's impairments and instead of giving up on him and focusing on her strong pokemon, she vowed to make him overcome his limitations. Clefable was starting to think that Ashimi wasn't so bad after all. The feelings of sympathy and, she barely dared to think it, admiration, she had developed for the human were confusing. Maybe she'd feel better after she cleared her head, so Clefable decided to go for a walk.

"Where's she going?" Dorme wondered in curiosity.

"Around, I suppose," Ashimi shrugged. "She'll probably be back after a walk, if she wanted to run away she could have done so by now, I don't lock my pokeballs anyway."

Dorme didn't quite understand the situation. Ashimi seemed to have an odd relationship with some of her pokemon. Zero settled into a corner for some quiet debugging time, while Dorme headed to the window. She might as well go out through there instead of having to be seen leaving by Joy and be told she should be getting some sleep instead. "I'll be going now."

"Don't you want to wait until morning?" Ashimi offered.

"Nah, I really don't have a minute to waste. I need to crack this case and get the information back to Team Rocket," Dorme climbed out the window. "I also need to think of what to say in my progress report."

"You know about Daala's connection with the redhead, you know what at least some of their pokemon are and you know about their battle tactics," Ashimi reminded. "You've made plenty of progress right there. I'm sure that must count for something!"

Dorme was surprised by Ashimi's suggestion. Because she hadn't accomplished the main purpose of her mission, to uncover any other members of the supposed anti-Rocket group Daala was thought to be a part of, she hadn't thought about the progress that she did make. "You're right, I'll make sure to mention that."

After Dorme left, Ashimi packed up her purchases, mailing the gifts away to their proper destinations as well as sending her own collectibles home. She carried the boxes out of the room with some help from Zero and her pokemon. Conveniently, the pokemon centers operated a package delivery service. Their logo was an envelope with a pokeball to signify mail and the pokemon center. They also had mail boxes scattered around that could hold small packages. The logo was ironic because no one really used paper to mail written messages anymore and pokemon were transferred digitally, they were stored that way as well since long term digitalization was mastered.

When Ashimi, Zero and the pokemon returned to their room, they found that the glass of the window had been pushed closed, though it was still unlocked. It was Zubat who noticed it first, when he wondered why the breeze that circulated through the room before had stopped. Taped to the window's glass there was an envelope, Zubat pointed it out, finding it to be suspicious.

"Envelope?" Zero looked to the window and spotted the small white envelope. "Ashimi, look at what Zubat found," he pointed.

"Huh?" Ashimi picked up the envelope. "Who left this here?" There was nothing written on the outside. She opened it and found pink fur and nail clippings. "What in Mew's name is this? Why would someone send me shaved fur and nail clippings? Oh there's a piece of paper in there too." She proceeded to read it aloud, "I have your Clefable, I was going to send you a finger as proof, but the fur and nail clippings will just have to do. If you want to see her alive again, come to the bakery in the backstreets of Cerulean City alone. Do not bring your pokemon."

A wave of cries of alarm passed over the pokemon, but Ashimi was quick to calm them. "It's okay, it looks like there's no way I can have my journey separate from my life as a Rocket. I'm sure grandpa just sent someone to give me a test. Relax, neither Clefable, or me, or any of you for that matter, are in real danger. Well, I might be in danger of getting scolded if I fail and that is scary, but I'm not in mortal danger and I have no intentions of failing anyway. Stay here with Zero, everyone. I'll get to Cerulean in a taxi, I'll leave early in the morning and call you when it's all over. Johnny will probably be done with his Rocket business by then, so I'll likely catch a ride back with him. No worries, I'll be back before you know it."

xoxox xox xoxox

The next morning, Ashimi left Celadon City early. Zero and the pokemon remained at the center to await her return. Though she looked confident, Pichu had a bad feeling about this that spread to the other pokemon and Zero. "There is a way to stay informed," the virtual boy realized. "I'll send an email and ask Laiki about what's going on. She has all the latest gossip, so she should know about what kind of test Ashimi will be facing."

With the email sent, it was only a matter of waiting for a reply. The answer did eventually come, but it wasn't what Zero had expected. "I got a reply..." Pichu, Furball, Chari, Zubat and Squirtle looked at Zero expectantly, with various degrees of curiosity. His lack of enthusiasm didn't sit well with the most perceptive of the team.

Zero recited the email he had received, leaving out the silly salutation of 'hi cutie-chibi!' which carried an excessive seven exclamation points. "I haven't heard about Ashimi being tested recently. I thought Giovanni was pleased with her journey's progress and the dedication and resourcefulness she has shown so far. Last I heard he rewarded her with a nice monetary sum to commemorate her victories. Though he is planning to test her later, I have no knowledge of any tests being scheduled for the present time. Has something happened? Be careful, there are some very sneaky anti-Rockets on the loose." Zero stopped there as the ending signature of 'love, aunty Laiki,' didn't add any relevant information to what he was trying to communicate.

The door to the room suddenly opened without warning and Jonathan entered with a greeting of, "hey Ashy, I'm back." He paused, looking around the room and wondering if he had entered the wrong one. But no, it had to be where Ashimi was staying, there was Pichu and her other pokemon.

Chari let out a stream of what sounded to Johnny like repetitions of her species' name with the syllables varying in order in some occasions. Her tone was rather scolding and she waved her clawed index finger back and forth at him. Zero translated, "Chari is saying you can't just barge into a girl's room without knocking."

"Sorry... Where is Ashimi anyway? And who are you?" Jonathan asked.

Zero answered Jonathan's question in the clearest and most summarized manner he could. He quickly explained who and what he was, leaving out the part about his system's instability and got him up to date on the latest happenings about Ashimi's pokemon and her battles. His explanation ended with the discovery of trickery and Clefable having been kidnapped for real. "We just figured that out when you got here."

"Then there's no time to waste, we have to catch up with Ashy!" Jonathan hurried out of the pokemon center along with Zero and the pokemon. Zero put most of the pokemon back in their pokeballs for easier transportation, save for Pichu. They hurried into the indigo sports convertible and rushed out of Celadon City.

xoxox xox xoxox

Passing through Saffron City on their way to Cerulean, Jonathan and Zero found someone they recognized between the two cities. There on the side of the road, Dorme was having a battle against Daala. "Don't give up, Oddish, attack with petal dance!"

"Roll away Donphan, tackle that annoying little plant!" Daala knew that Donphan was badly poisoned and wouldn't be able to continue fighting for long. She had expected to face her Hitmonlee again. Then Dorme surprised her with an unusually strong Oddish. The everstone on the pokemon's circlet had been properly disguised and didn't really look like an everstone.

"Give it everything you have, aim for the sides!" Oddish's sharp petals surrounded Donphan, cutting him on the sides of his body were he didn't have as much tough armor.

The force of the attack combined with the continuous strain of the poison finally pushed Donphan over the edge and he fainted. "Donphan!" The pokemon did not get up and was recalled into his pokeball, to be replaced with a new combatant. "Return... Go Houndour, flamethrower!"

"Oddish, watch out!" Oddish was tired from her battle with Donphan. She had to keep moving constantly and make an effort to get through his armor. Facing the element her kind was weak against was not something she was prepared to do in her condition. She dodged as fast as she could, but Houndour took a big breath and let out another burst of flames that spread out like a fan and finally caught up to Oddish. "Oddish return! Go Hitmonlee!"

"Enough of this..." Daala glared. "Venusaur!"

"That's not fair!" Dorme complained.

"Go Foxtrot, flamethrower!" The Flareon rushed into battle with a massive fire attack aimed at Venusaur.

"Johnny!" Dorme happily exclaimed. Without warning she jumped on him, nearly tackling him to the ground on the side of the road.

Johnny stumbled back, taken by surprise, then steadied his feet, a bit red in the face from the close proximity. "Um... Where's Ashy?" He finally managed to ask.

Dorme pushed him back, holding him at arm's length and glared straight into his eyes. "What did you just ask?" Her hands moved from his shoulders to his neck.

One false move and she'd be gripping his throat with everything she had. "No-nothing?" There was an uncomfortable pause and her fingers twitched. He slowly began to raise his arms to get a hold of her wrists and free himself, but her grip increased and he froze. "Dorme..."

Seeing as Jonathan and Dorme were caught up in their own business and Daala wasn't willing to wait for them to resolve their differences, Zero decided to take action. "Pichu, Furball, double thunderbolt!"

The massive burst of electricity caught Dorme and Jonathan's attention and she finally let her arms fall to her sides. The situation was not in Daala's favor, she was outnumbered and the Rockets didn't look happy.

Jonathan cleared his throat and pretended he didn't just narrowly avoid death. "Daala, where is..." He glanced at Dorme from the corner of his eyes and finished, "Clefable?"

"What?" Both Daala and Dorme expressed a chorus of confusion.

"Didn't you kidnap Clefable?" Jonathan inquired.

"I prefer not to involve pokemon like that." Daala frowned in disapproval, her so called ally had acted on her own, even if Daala had told her not to go through with the kidnapping. Despite sharing a common purpose against Team Rocket, the two girls occasionally had their differences.

"What's this about?" Dorme interjected.

"Clefable got kidnapped and," Jonathan took a step back, away from Dorme before speaking the A name. "Ashy went to look for her, she's heading right into a trap at Cerulean City."

"Clefable was taking a walk alone when I left Ashimi at the pokemon center. I spotted Daala a little further ahead and followed her, she couldn't have kidnapped Clefable," Dorme revealed. "As for Ashimi, I haven't seen her. Go play knight for her if you want, it's not like she appreciates it anyway!"

Daala watched the scene unfold for a moment longer before recalling her pokemon into their pokeballs and breaking into a run. Pichu and Furball looked at Zero, who shrugged and let her go.

"Dorme..." Jonathan's expression turned serious. "I know Ashy doesn't need anyone protecting her. That's what she thought I was doing and that's what we argued about. I trust Ashy, I know she can take care of herself, but I still want to be there for her, and that goes for you too!" Dorme gave him a doubtful look. "I was looking for Ashy, but I would have stopped to battle at your side anyway. Ashy's my childhood friend, that's all there is to it. If the two of you would just get along then I..." He trailed off into silence, would he return Dorme's feelings then? If he did, would Ashimi still continue to hold the first priority even if he was dating Dorme? Would that be okay? He didn't know the answer to any of those questions and he didn't want to think about it right now.

Dorme laughed with a bittersweet tone. She let out a breath, closed her eyes and relaxed her shoulders as if in resignation. "One day a realization will hit you and you'll see her as more than a childhood friend. Then you'll realize something else." She slowly lifted her head and looked into his eyes, "she's unobtainable."

A cold chill ran down Jonathan's spine, he remained silent for a few heavy seconds until he finally snapped out of his trance. "Don't say such silly things, Dorme, you know I don't look at Ashy that way..."

"Yet," Dorme recalled Hitmonlee and ran off to continue in Daala's pursuit as the first few drops of rain began to fall from the cloudy skies. It wasn't storming, it was only raining.

"Such drama," Zero yawned. Jonathan decided it was best not to comment on the subject any further and silently got back in the car. Furball returned to his pokeball and Pichu hopped on Zero's head. Then once again, they were on their way to Cerulean City.

xoxox xox xoxox

After what felt like the longest trip of her life, Ashimi finally arrived at the bakery in the backstreets of Cerulean City, under a light rain. She didn't take time off during the trip, though she had started out feeling confident and even waited until morning to leave Celadon City. A cold feeling crept into her being along the way and she felt compelled to rush to the scene of the test. It felt like an odd place for a test, but she would find out what it was like in a moment. The taxi left her at her destination and she walked into the bakery which had a closed sign on the door, but it was unlocked. The shelves were notably empty, devoid of the sweet treats they once held.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Ashimi walked around the counter and towards the door behind it. There was a small kitchen area there and a storage closet. She examined the closet and found a ladder leading to the basement. She went down into a dark tunnel, heading towards the light in the end, filtering through the half open door. She pushed the door open and it made a terrible screeching sound as it turned on its hinges.

There she was, a red haired girl with green eyes. Her eyes and hair were different, but she had the same facial features as the fake Kirameki. Ashimi wondered if her current appearance was also a disguise she could remove to blend in. There was something about the way she looked that didn't ring true. Then Ashimi realized it, it was the girl's hair, it was the same color as Jessie's hair, fixed into the same style. Ashimi blinked in confusion, who was this girl and why was she copying Jessie? She couldn't be a part of Team Rocket if she was Daala's ally. This wasn't a test, it was a trap. The mysterious girl grinned with a confident glare. Her eyes were the same color as James, but the look in them was distinctly different, bitter. "So you're finally here," the crimson haired girl spoke.

They stood in a simple basement with gray unpainted walls and a crude table to the side. Next to it there was a level on the wall. On the opposite side there was a stained old cloth covering a section of the wall and it was slightly moving as if breathing uneasily. Switching between looking at the cloth and the crimson haired girl at fast intervals, Ashimi finally asked, "who are you?"

"Jaina Joan Kojiro," the name was spoken bitterly as if it was a reminder of betrayal.

Ashimi stared at the girl. "Kojiro," she whispered. "That's Johnny's last name, it's his father's last name, but you're copying his mother's hair."

"I'm not copying anyone," Jaina insisted. "This is simply what I look like."

"Liar!" Ashimi shouted. "I know you were pretending to be Kirameki. You think you can trick me by pretending to be Johnny's relative? He comes from a family of loyal Rockets! Even his grandmother, Miyamoto, is remembered as one of the greatest Rockets who was there from the very beginning!"

"What about his father? Do you know his story?" Jaina growled as if the issue was personal.

Ashimi hadn't heard anything from James' family. As far as she knew he was the first generation to become a Rocket in his line. But what did it matter? Jessie and James were people her parents trusted and they were loyal, as was their son. "I have no doubts of his loyalty either."

"You know nothing!" Jaina shouted, "it doesn't matter though, you're about to learn the hard way what Team Rocket really is!" She pulled the cloth off the wall to reveal Clefable. The pink pokemon was strapped to the wall with metal cuffs on her arms and legs that prevented the use of her powers. She looked badly beaten and had a very strange collar around her neck with odd lights and circuitry.

"Clefable!" Ashimi ran to her and started pulling on the cuffs in a futile effort to free her. "I'm sorry I took so long to get here, I'm really sorry!" Ashimi cried. 'If only I haven't assumed this was a test, if only I haven't waited until morning before starting out,' she regretted.

"You can't win," Jaina laughed. "You don't have any pokemon with you," she took note of the lack of pokeballs on Ashimi's belt. Her bag had been left behind with Zero as well, since she didn't expect the trip to take too long. "If you want to leave, the price will be that pokemon's life. Show your true colors and sacrifice her for your own sake. If you kill her I'll let you go and if you don't," Jaina pulled out the whip that was wrapped around her waist, as she stretched it out, it became electrified. "I'll kill you."

Ashimi clenched her teeth in frustration, how could she had fallen for this trick? How could she had assumed her enemies would let her rest after their latest battle? "Don't worry Clefable, I'll get you out of here alive, I promise."

"Idiot," much to Ashimi's surprise, Clefable spoke.

"That collar is a special piece of technology, isn't it? I'm sure Team Rocket has their own version, but why would they make it public? They like their pokemon as slaves without the ability to communicate with humans. Sadly, this one couldn't tell me anything useful," Jaina mocked. She saw that Ashimi was tense and trembling. Mistaking the fury for fear, she swung her electric whip and hit Ashimi on the back.

The damage was notable, but Ashimi refused to acknowledge it. "You hurt Clefable to get information?" She was furious. "Information that she didn't even know?!" Jaina's only reply was a cruel chuckle. "You'll pay for this!" Ashimi glared with an incessant fury in her eyes, much like her grandfather in his younger days.

Jaina took an involuntary step back, then steeled her resolve and attacked with her whip while Ashimi charged towards her. The whip caught Ashimi on the shoulder and she stumbled in pain, but regained her balance and continued her attack. Jaina rushed to pull the whip back and swing it again, she couldn't fully do so on time and instead swung it low, hitting Ashimi's legs. The distance between them was closed and Ashimi grabbed the whip's handle with both hands, intent on ripping it out of the other girl's grasp. If she didn't disarm her, she wouldn't be able to last in the fight for much longer.

Jaina let go of the whip and kicked Ashimi away in the stomach. Ashimi fell to the floor completely out of breath, with the whip in her hands. It was a good weapon and the fact that Jaina gave it up so easily made every mental alarm in her head go off. Jaina pulled out a small controller and in the same split second, Ashimi threw the whip back at her. It was too late for Jaina to avoid the hit, she had already activated the self destruct detonator and the weapon exploded as it reached her. "Not bad," Jaina growled. "Now we're both injured, but I'm still stronger."

"Yeah, well I'm faster," Ashimi challenged, "and I have Clefable!"

"That useless creature?" Jaina laughed cruelly. "That thing couldn't save you if it wanted to!"

'Why?' Clefable thought frantically, 'why doesn't she try to escape? Why doesn't she save herself?' For the first time Clefable was willing to fight for Ashimi, but she couldn't.

"That's not true," Ashimi tried to steady her gasping breaths and ignore the pain. "Things look different in the heat of battle, but Clefable has a clear view. Clefable, I'm not as strong as my opponent, but that won't matter if she can't actually hit me, so please guide me and I'll set you free!" Ashimi went on the attack again.

'Guide her?' Clefable stared at her trainer in shock. 'What am I supposed to...' "Watch out for her kick!" Ashimi jumped back, narrowly avoiding having her feet swept out from under her. 'I... I see it, there's a pattern to her fighting style, can Ashimi see it too? No, she's too focused on fighting.' "Dodge left! Dodge right! Punch!"

Ashimi's hit connected with Jaina's face and she stumbled back, but didn't fall. Jaina recovered very quickly and kicked Ashimi away. "I told you, I'm stronger than you, there's no way you can overpower me!"

Ashimi could barely get up, but she pushed herself to her feet. 'Wait a minute, that's it, I understand what Ashimi was trying to tell me!' Clefable realized. "Get up Ashimi, victory is close!"

"Ha! That stupid pokemon is delusional!" Jaina went on the attack again.

"Move to the right, dodge, kick, go back, back!" Clefable called out. Ashimi had managed to get a few hits in with her advantage in speed, but Jaina was simply too strong for her, until she reached her goal. "It's right behind you, kick backwards high!"

When Ashimi followed Clefable's instruction, her true plan became clear. The whole fight had been a distraction to reach the level on the wall. It was the only clearly visible mechanism in the room and the cuffs on Clefable didn't look like they used any type of key. The cuffs on Clefable opened, but Ashimi was trapped in a corner. Before Jaina could strike, Clefable went on an all out attack, punching, kicking and biting. Jaina pushed the pokemon away, only to be lifted by Clefable's telekinetic force that sent her crashing against the wall. The crimson haired girl lost consciousness on impact and slid down the wall to the floor, motionless.

Clefable tried to speak, but the exposed circuitry of her collar was damaged and her words once again sounded to human ears as repetitions of her name. She quieted and tried again, before finally removing the damaged collar and glaring at it in frustration. "It's okay Clefable," Ashimi assured. "I know what you want to say," she smiled.

To be Continued

Dorme is the daughter of Domino, so of course she'd get some pretty important missions. The girl's got connections, but that's not to say she isn't strong on her own. She is both a talented pokemon trainer, and skilled in martial arts.

I went over the past chapter to catch any misspellings or grammatical errors I might have missed the first time around so they've been revised. The story it's the same, I only checked the technical stuff. On that subject, let me know if you catch any mistakes on future chapters and I'll fix them asap.

It's finally time for another mini-bio. The crimson haired girl: a mysterious and tricky girl allied to Daala, though they don't always agree, they are both anti-Rocket. She claims to have a connection with Johnny's family, but tricky as she is, no one knows if there's some truth to it, or if it's just another of her lies.

I hope you liked this chapter, happy halloween everyone, enjoy the candy!


	13. Chapter 13

Awakening

Chapter 13: Siblings

Jonathan dashed into the basement of the bakery at Cerulean City, followed by Zero and the pokemon. Pichu, Furball, Chari, Zubat and even Squirtle rushed to Ashimi in a chorus of concern. "Ashy?" Jonathan asked unsure. To inquire if she was okay felt stupid, given how bruised she was.

"The situation is under control," she pointed at the unconscious Jaina.

Jonathan noticed the girl, his eyes going wide. He remembered her, she got him out of a jam when the police nearly caught him during one of his Rocket missions. He was surprised by her resemblance to his mother and wondered if she was a cousin he never knew about. She was very mysterious and did not give him a name to inquire about, but she did say she would tell him who she was when they met again. Had it all been a set up for a trick that she never put into action, or an elaborate ruse that was yet to come to full fruition? "Did she do this to you?"

"Yeah, but Clefable and I showed her. See? I can take care of myself, even if it may not look it right now, trust me, I'm okay." She was terribly sore, Ashimi had to admit, so saying she was okay was a stretch, but she knew she would be.

"I know... I know you can take care of yourself, but friends take care of each other too," Jonathan reminded.

"Yeah..." Ashimi laughed at the irony. 'So much for proving my competence, I didn't need to after all.'

Jaina began to wake up and found Jonathan staring at her. "I think it's time you told me who you are, like you said you would."

"You've seen her before?" Ashimi was surprised to hear about it.

"I have..." Jonathan admitted. "It was during a mission for Team Rocket. I almost got caught by the police, but she helped me out. I thought she was a Rocket too, maybe even a relative of mine, but then I realized she wasn't a Rocket."

"Not so sure on the relative part, are you?" Jaina slowly got to her feet.

"She's a master of disguise," Ashimi warned. "She pretended to be the Celadon gym leader, Kirameki, and was working with Daala. She tried to kill Dorme and me!"

"Just you, granddaughter of Giovanni," Jaina clarified. "Killing the Rocket girl as well would have been a mere bonus."

"Now I know that no matter what you look like we can't be related," Jonathan glared angrily. "I come from a family of loyal Rockets and you're clearly not one of us!"

"Oh, but I am..." Jaina argued. "I am your twin sister, Jaina Joan Kojiro."

Jonathan's bitterness increased, "liar! My sister is dead!"

"Look at me, brother, I am your twin..." Jaina insisted, her voice turning soft, almost pleading. "Do you not feel it?"

A strange feeling overcame Jonathan and he found himself doubting his conviction. Was this girl really his sister? Had her early death been a lie? No, he couldn't allow himself such thoughts. "I won't fall for your lies!" Jonathan shouted. "You have a lot to answer for..."

Another set of footsteps was heard as Dorme arrived. "It looks like I'm too late. Oh my Mew! Ashimi, look at you! You're going to need ten pounds of makeup to cover up all those bruises. I've got to give you some martial arts training some time."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that," Ashimi smiled.

"Dorme?" Jonathan blinked in confusion. "Ashy? Did I miss something?"

"What? You really think we can't be both rivals and friends?" Dorme placed one hand on her hip, waving her other index finger back and forth. "I'll have you know we have a respectable rivalry, even though Ashimi is unaware of it."

"I am?" Ashimi tilted her head in confusion. "We're rivals in pokemon training, aren't we? I'm aware of that, what more is there to it?"

"See what I mean," Dorme sighed.

"I don't get it, I only used to dislike you because you kept trying to make me leave whenever you saw me," Ashimi mused aloud. It was actually whenever she was seen with Jonathan, but she seemed to miss that detail. "But you don't do that anymore and you are a good pokemon trainer, so..."

"That's okay, I know how the story will go, it's fine, I can wait my turn." Leaving the statement hanging for only Jonathan to understand, Dorme turned her attention to the crimson haired girl. "As for you... You've crossed the line and I'm taking you in, I'm sure the Rocket interrogators will have fun with their new assignment."

"I don't care," Jaina frowned in hopelessness. "I would never tell you anything even if I knew, but there's nothing to know. Tornado has no base of operations, no list of members. We are identified by our hatred for Team Rocket and nothing more. We know each other by our actions, we are not a mere organization, we are a state of mind!"

"A state of brainwashing I would say," Jonathan differed.

The sound of sirens outside caught their attention. "The police!" Dorme exclaimed, "such bad timing!"

"Do you think Kirameki sent them to investigate Jaina?" Ashimi referred to her as such, since she didn't know her by any other name.

Dorme did not correct her, if Jaina had another name, she was not aware of it. "Maybe, they must have gotten tips from people who saw her coming this way. They'll probably want to arrest her and maybe even us."

"Lets retreat," Ashimi decided. She could hear several sets of feet shuffling about upstairs. "Chari, weaken the walls with your fire until they give way!" Chari did so, until one of the walls was no more. The room was a basement, thus underground, hence beyond the wall there was the ground. "Squirtle, soften up that dirt with your water just enough to make it easier to dig through. "Squirtle got to work, at least the situation wasn't as scary as the last time he was asked to do something. "Chari, Pichu, Furball, Clefable, Squirtle, all together now, dig a tunnel! Zubat, give them direction, detect the best path to the surface."

"Go Foxtrot, help them out!" Though Jonathan had only called out his Flareon, Nya, the young Purrloin, popped out of her pokeball also, wanting to help. She began to dig and threw a bit of mud up, the mud ball landed on her head, making her squeak in surprise, as if the law of gravity wasn't an everyday thing. She began to wipe the mud off but only succeeded in spreading it.

"Hitmonlee, Oddish, dig too!" Dorme looked back at Jaina, who clearly wasn't invited to tag along in their escape, they didn't have time to try to make her cooperate along the way. Jaina doubted the police could hold her for long, the crimson haired girl wasn't obstructing their escape because she knew she would have an easier time getting away if she went with the police alone.

"Foxtrot, cover our escape with fire!" Just as Jonathan's Flareon closed off the tunnel at least temporarily with a curtain of fire, Jenny and a few other officers made it to the basement, along with a few police trained Growlithe. They didn't know if there was an armed ambush waiting for them, so they had proceeded slowly and carefully.

Leaving Jaina behind to be arrested, Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme, Zero and the pokemon reached another wall within the tunnel, following Zubat's directions. The wall was broken in a similar fashion to the one before and they stepped into another tunnel. The new tunnel had walls and flooring, though it was dirty and smelled very bad. Foul smelling pipes ran along the tunnel, further confirming the fact that it was a sewer. "It's only a matter of time before the police comes this way, lets get out of here!" Ashimi urged.

"Ugh, you don't have to tell me twice, this place stinks!" Dorme covered her nose.

"Approaching Muk and Grimer detected!" Zero announced. "They're coming from both sides of the tunnel."

"All the more reason to move!" Jonathan hurried along with the group. He had picked up Nya and held her at arm's length by the scruff of her neck, "Meowth would fury swipe me into ribbons if he saw how dirty you are." The police would certainly get a nasty surprise once they got past the firewall and investigated the tunnel.

A big stinky Muk approached, growling at the group. Nya let out a stream of words that sounded like variations of Purrloin and feline noises, but came out as words to pokemon ears. The Muk smiled, gave an enthusiastic reply and stepped aside to reveal a ladder leading up to a manhole on the street above.

The group recalled their pokemon and climbed up to the street, grateful that they didn't have to deal with the Muk after all. "I wonder what the deal with the Muk was. I thought he was going to attack us," Ashimi took in a big breath of fresh air, now that they were finally out of the stinky sewers.

"Nya asked him politely to let us through," Zero explained. "The Muk said, sure, anything for a cute little Grimer like you."

"I don't know if I should laugh at how clueless that Muk is or grimace at the fact that I'm not the only one who thinks Nya's dirty enough to look like a Grimer," Jonathan's expression was distinctly sour. "It's going to take forever to clean up her fur."

"We're not exactly presentable ourselves," Dorme frowned at the amount of mud and dirt that clung to her. "Let's get to the pokemon center and get cleaned up, or maybe Ashimi's place?"

"Pokemon center," Ashimi insisted. "I don't want mom to see me like this, she'll make a big fuss about it and it'll only make her worry."

"Alright, the pokemon center it is, you better clean your cuts before you get an infection. I can help out with that and Johnny can clean the pokemon in the mean time," Dorme suggested.

"You just want to get out of bathing the muddy pokemon," Jonathan noted. Dorme made no efforts to deny it and only grinned. They looked to the sky as they walked. It wasn't raining anymore and there was a rainbow over the sunset. Things felt as if they were getting complicated, but somehow they knew they could face whatever came their way.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Cerulean pokemon center, Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme and Zero excused themselves with the local Joy by saying they had a nasty encounter with a gang of Muk and Grimer. Though she was clearly disgusted by their dirt and odor, the nurse felt sorry for them and let them get cleaned up. They settled into a guest room to rest, resorting to continue the journey in the morning. Ashimi had so far won four gym badges: boulder, marsh, thunder and rainbow. The earth badge would be the last and the cascade badge the second to last, as per her plans, so the next logical step would be to head towards Fuchsia City for a soul badge. "Let's take the Lavender Town route this time around, I haven't been in Lavender for a long time," Ashimi decided. She was all cleaned up and bandaged, though the blackened bruises were still clearly visible.

"I have to be on my way again in the morning to try to get information from Daala. I'm starting to think that the whole thing about Tornado not having a base of operations or a physical list of members is true. That would explain why I haven't been able to find much. I wonder if they even have a leader," Dorme theorized. "Anyway, someone has to make you presentable," she pointed at Ashimi. "I'll have to teach you to do your own makeup for when I'm not around. I'll get a good supply tomorrow morning, that way people won't ask too many questions until you stop looking so black and blue."

"I guess that would be useful," Ashimi admitted. "It was a pity her soreness couldn't be covered up so easily. She recalled something from earlier which she had been wondering about. "Johnny, about earlier, about Jaina..." Ashimi wasn't sure how to ask, and in the end decided to take the most obvious direct route and just say it. "Was there actually a real Jaina Joan, did you have a sister?"

"Yes," Jonathan replied.

Dorme's jaw dropped. "You have a sister?" She voiced in disbelief. "I thought I knew all the basic details about you, like your middle name being Jancen. How come I never knew about your sister? Actually, it sounds like Ashimi didn't know until recently either."

"Because I don't have a sister," Jonathan corrected. "I had a sister," he emphasized the past tense. Ashimi, Dorme and Zero silently waited for him to elaborate further. "Jaina was supposed to be my twin, but only I lived in the end. She was still-born, no one knows why, she was fine in all the tests, but her heart stopped beating around the time mom went into labor. Some doctors say mom's blood pressure went too high because of the urgency and nerves, some say Jaina tried to breath before she was out and choked and some say she was simply not ready, since mom gave birth a bit early. I just don't know what that girl wants to achieve pretending to be Jaina and dressing up to look like she's related to me."

"I don't get it either," Ashimi breathe. "I thought I was her target, and so far she's made that clear. If she had some sort of plan to get to me by pretending to be your sister, why didn't she just do it from the beginning?"

"Um..." Dorme shifted uncomfortably. "There is no possibility that she could be your long lost sister, right?"

A heavy silence overtook the room until Jonathan finally spoke, "I don't think so..." To be perfectly honest, he didn't have a way to be certain. "I know the real Jaina has a grave in Lavender Town. Honestly, there are way too many grave yards there. I guess that doesn't really prove anything. They could have buried some other baby or maybe the grave is empty. But why would something like that even happen?"

"If you could test her DNA the answer would be clear," Zero logically suggested.

"And if she refuses the test, the answer will be clear too," Dorme continued. "Although, if she really wanted to use that to her advantage, she might go out of her way to make sure fake results are delivered."

"Honestly, I do get an odd feeling from her, a strange sense of familiarity. If I went with that I'd be inclined to believe her," Jonathan confessed. "But her actions speak too loudly, she's not a Rocket and my family are Rockets." The doubts haunted him, what if that girl was the real Jaina, what if she had been stolen from the hospital and pronounced dead for convenience's sake? What kind of life did she live? "If it were true... If it were actually true, and I found out who took her, who stole her life from her and turn her into what she is now..." He let the statement hang, but it was clear that the culprit would not meet a pleasant fate. Then he shook his head and reiterated, "I guess it doesn't really matter, because she's not my sister," she couldn't be... "She's just a liar," he wasn't sure why he even needed to convince himself of a fact that should have been clear. "She's definitely not related to me."

"Do you still want to go to Lavender Town?" Ashimi asked after a long silence.

Jonathan blinked as if the question came out of the blue. "Of course," he paused and smiled. "Relax, Ashy, I'm not going to suddenly be afraid of graveyards just because I saw my so called sister's ghost," he joked to lighten the mood. No more discussion was done that night save for pokemon battle small talk. They were all very tired and went to sleep early.

xoxox xox xoxox

When morning rolled around, Dorme did Ashimi's makeup as promised. She did a pretty good job of hiding her bruises with thick foundation and powder. Ashimi admitted she felt a bit off with so much stuff on her face and the visible portions of her arms and legs, but she let it be. It was certainly easier to blend in by looking like a preteen who couldn't wait to look grown up, than like one who looked like she got on a Machoke's bad side. After some the girl time, Dorme left, once again parting ways with Ashimi, Jonathan and Zero, who headed towards Lavender Town.

To be Continued

A bit of a short chapter this time, but it's still significant in its contribution to the plot. More about the mysterious Jaina and her past will be revealed later. The Lavander Town chaters will be intense! :D Next up: Chapter 14: Resentment (Part 1)

The last? mini-bio: Jaina - A mysterious teenage girl, sent by Tornado to assassinate Ashimi. She claims to be Johnny's sister, but no one knows if it's true.

Tornado: A peculiar organization of anti-Rockets that apparently has no base of operations and no official list of members. Known members include Daala and Jaina. 


	14. Chapter 14

Awakening

Chapter 14: Resentment (Part 1)

Fortunately, the trip to Lavender Town went without interruptions. Ashimi, Jonathan and Zero arrived at the gloomy town without any problems. The sun might have been shining on that day, but the town's atmosphere remained dreary, as if a sad cloud constantly hung over it. There wasn't much to do there since the town had no gym, but Ashimi did get to challenge a few people to pokemon battles. Just as she was ready to take a break, someone suddenly called her name.

"Lady Ashimi, I found you!" The boy collapsed on the street in front of her, as if he had been running non-stop for a very long time. "It looks like paying off Dorme to reveal your location was a good plan after all, I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner!" The light green haired teenager picked himself off the ground and glared at Jonathan, "of course you had to be here too, always getting in the way. The future madam boss only needs one knight at her side and that's me!" He very loudly declared.

Ashimi looked around, the people passing by were giving them odd looks. "Keep it down, Cloud, people are staring!"

"Cloud?" The boy shook his head. "That's not my name, but that's alright, you can call me whatever you like as long as you make me your right hand man! By the way, you look different, more grown up." Though it was probably just the makeup, as she couldn't have changed that much since the last time he saw her. He still saw it as an opportunity to score extra points and decided to compliment her. Cute was a girlish compliment and beautiful sounded more grown up but unoriginal and he needed something over the top. After a short pause, an idea finally hit him, "you look like the most badass supreme overlord-er-lady, the world could ever have!"

Ashimi didn't even know how to respond to that, in fact, she wasn't even sure if it was meant to be a compliment or an odd kind of insult. Jonathan shook his head hopelessly, a certain amount of indignation reflected in his eyes. "I see you haven't changed, Tidus, always trying to climb the ranks in any way you can."

"That's not my name either!" The green haired boy growled. "But I don't care if you don't remember my name, you're an unworthy Rocket anyway. I should be the one taking on the role of Princess Ashimi's personal servant and body guard!"

"I'm neither of those things!" Jonathan argued.

"Ignore him, madam, allow me to prove myself to you!" The boy whose name no one could remember got down on one knee as if he was about to be knighted.

Ashimi took a step back. "I think you're over doing it."

"I think he's funny in a pathetic sort of way," Zero smiled in a manner that was too cute to match the meanness of the statement, which was also ironically spoken in a cheery tone.

The boy looked up, scowling, "and here I thought I had odd eyes. He looks like a possessed doll, creepy!" He shuddered visibly.

"Hey!" Ashimi stepped forward in Zero's defense. "Little Zero is adorable and don't you dare insult him." She threw her arms around the little virtual boy, "he does look like a doll, that's part of his charm." Though Zero wasn't particularly happy to be referred to as a doll, he stuck his tongue out at the nameless teen and gave him a smug look anyway.

"I can be a doll too!" The boy argued. "I can be anything you want me to be, my lady!"

"Weirdo, try being normal," Ashimi grumbled.

"I am!" The boy insisted pleadingly.

"Why don't we just battle?" Without waiting for a reply, Jonathan called out his Flareon. "This way we can settle this once and for all, what do you say, Locke?" Jonathan finally suggested, his patience for the nonsense coming to an end.

"Fine! Let's battle, and my name's not Locke!" He threw a pokeball into combat, the red beam revealing a Tentacool. "Ha! I have the type advantage!"

"And I have every other advantage," Jonathan countered. "Foxtrot, fry that Tentacool, flamethrower!" The Flareon fearlessly attacked, with a burst of massive flames.

"There's no way fire can beat water! Tentacool, water gun!" The boy whom everyone constantly called by a different name attacked with confidence.

"Go all the way, Foxtrot, keep the flames strong!" The fire pokemon intensified his attack and thus the amount of steam that came as a result was multiplied. Jonathan grinned, this had to be one of the oldest tricks in the book when it came to fire versus water. "Quick attack and tackle!"

"What?" Tentacool's trainer looked all around, but the steam was so thick that he couldn't see the battle. "Dodge, Tentacool! Or better yet, give that Flareon a water gun to the face!" As much as Tentacool wanted to do what he was told, he couldn't see a thing in the middle of that steam, as his water gun went off in every direction without reaching the fast moving target. Foxtrot's location only became apparent for Tentacool when he was tackled painfully. The steam dissipated, but it was already too late, Tentacool was already pinned to the sidewalk. "Water gun! Water gun! Water gun!" The trainer urged, waiving his arms around in desperation, as if the silly action would somehow make his pokemon stronger.

"Finish this, Foxtrot, use strength!" Jonathan watched in satisfaction as the battle continued to unfold. Tentacool tried to take in a breath to use a water gun, but Foxtrot kept smashing him against the floor and kicking him around, preventing the water pokemon from attacking.

It all got to be too much and Tentacool soon fainted from all the punishment he received. "No way... You must have cheated!" Jonathan's rival accused. "How else would you explain this?"

Zero spoke up with an explanation that any current pokedex app could give, provided that the phone it was installed on had a power sensor. "On a scale of one to one hundred, Foxtrot is about twenty levels above Tentacool."

"But he's a fire type and Tentacool is a water type and... and... and..."

"Give it up, Seifer, I'm not cheating, my pokemon is stronger than yours," Jonathan insisted.

"Just you wait!" He recalled Tentacool into his pokeball. "I'll train hard and get stronger and become Ashimi's right hand man!" He began to run away, only to stop a few steps away from the group and call back, "and my name is not Seifer either!" Then he continued to run away non-stop until he could no longer be seen in the distance.

An awkward silence hung in the air until Ashimi finally spoke. "Okay, who's up for some food?"

"I am!" Jonathan and Zero piped in at the same time.

"Some electricity would be really nice too," Zero added.

"Let's go to that cyber cafe down the street, we can get food and find an outlet there," Ashimi suggested.

As the three walked to the cafe, they talked about all the odd creepy pasta stories surrounding the establishment and its supposed haunted computers. "Did you hear the one about the insanity inducing melody?" Jonathan began the tale. "If you're really quiet and listen closely, you'll hear an annoying little tune in a frequency you wouldn't normally notice with other sounds around. If you keep focusing on it, it'll slowly drive you crazy..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Overall, the day had gone well. Maybe Daala had her share of the action for a while and Jaina was taking a little longer than expected to escape from the police. That was just fine as far as Ashimi was concerned. She had enough on her mind remembering the tricks Dorme taught her to hide her bruises until they healed, if she thought about it as secret spy camouflage instead of makeup it felt cooler. At least she wasn't as sore anymore, as she was energetic and quick to recover. Ashimi, Jonathan and Zero had a long way to go to Fuchsia City, so they settled into the Lavender Town pokemon center and got some rest.

It was well into the night when Ashimi felt a whisper in her ear, it turned progressively louder and more high pitched until she suddenly sat up, looking in every direction. She caught some movement from the corner of her eyes and looked over the bunk bed's headboard. There she saw a Gastly, the ghost laughed and floated away towards the window. She went through the window and then back into the room with a soft murmur of "gastly..."

"Hey girl, do you want me to follow you?" Ashimi whispered and the Gastly nodded. "Be right there," Ashimi yawned. She peeked over the edge of the bed to the bunk below where Jonathan was fast asleep. "Hey Johnny!" She called to him, "Johnny, Johnny!"

"No dad, I didn't use your special edition premium bottle cap to scrape gum off my skateboard..." The voice calling him finally became loud enough to wake Jonathan from his slumber and the first thing he saw was Ashimi hanging upside down from the bunk above his, her red-orange hair spilling out like a fiery curtain. He sat up so quickly that he bumped his head on the bed above his. "Ow..." He rubbed the affected area and laughed it off as if he wasn't just startled out of his skin.

"What's up? Is it that bad?" Ashimi poked at her own face. Dorme had told her time and time again, and made her recite it to ensure that the message was drilled into her head, that a lady must never sleep in her makeup. Ashimi had washed it all off before going to bed, so any hint of black and blue on her face was uncovered for the world, or at least for Jonathan and Zero to see.

"Nah, I think you're getting better," Jonathan encouraged. Then he whispered very quickly in a quiet tone, "I thought you were the floating flaming disembodied head from that creepy pasta story Zero looked up online when we were eating at the cafe."

"What's that?" Ashimi didn't quite understand the last sentence as it was spoken so quiet and fast.

"Nothing... Anyway, what did you want to say in the middle of the night?" Jonathan assumed it was something important, as Ashimi usually slept like a rock through the whole night.

"Oh, right, the Gastly!" Ashimi made her way down the bunk's ladder to the floor. "I have to catch her!"

"She's still there," Zero suddenly spoke. Though there were two bunk beds, which meant that four people could comfortably sleep in the room, Zero was sitting in a corner next to a power outlet.

"That's right, you can sense pokemon like a pokedex, so you knew she was there since she came in," Ashimi realized. "Do you even ever sleep?"

"I don't need to, I just debug," Zero replied. "But I can simulate sleep."

"That's a lot of debugging..." Jonathan commented.

"Weren't you going to catch the Gastly?" Zero reminded, changing the subject.

"Yes!" Ashimi cheered. Pichu was on her head, but didn't seem to want to fully wake up. He pulled his ears down and kept his eyes closed. "Pokeballs," Ashimi put on the belt with her pokeballs, though she was still in her pajamas, which looked like a long bright pink t-shirt that went just below her knees, with the word 'boss' written across the chest in glittery silver letters. The outfit was completed with Pikachu slippers. "Let's go!" She started towards the window without waiting to hear any protests, which she wouldn't listen to when there was a pokemon waiting to be caught anyway.

"Just like that, there she goes." Jonathan was sure he didn't like the idea of running around at night in Growlithe slippers, light gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt with the words 'keep calm and Rock on' in white letters, save for the R which was red and bolded. Yet despite his reservations, he took his pokeballs and followed Ashimi out the window anyway.

"I might as well," Zero followed along too. He was wearing Buneary footy pajamas that Ashimi insisted he put on, even if he saw no need to wear anything different during the night. Most of his clothes were part of his graphical interface anyway and the extra layer of actual fabric felt unnecessary .

Outside, Jonathan and Zero saw Ashimi running further down the street after the Gastly. "Does this look suspicious to you?" Jonathan asked Zero as they dashed after her.

"Yup," Zero chirped. "But if we don't pretend we're clueless we won't be able to draw out whoever is behind this."

"I thought so," Jonathan agreed, hence why neither he nor Zero had protested towards Ashimi's seemingly rash actions. Surely she had learned her lesson after the latest trap and that's why she didn't run off alone. Jonathan saw her glance over her shoulder to make sure they were following her, while pretending to be engrossed in the chase. She was now willing to accept her friends' backup without the need to prove herself. She still had that need, but not to the point where she'd act too foolishly.

The streets of Lavender were deserted, as even those who had spent years living there found the town to be far too creepy to venture out at night. The Gastly led Ashimi to a graveyard with a tall rusted fence with metal bars. The gates were slightly parted, the lock long since unusable due to its age. But who would dare to venture into a graveyard in Lavender Town in the middle of the night? Ashimi looked at the gates and slowly walked through them. Her pause gave Jonathan and Zero enough time to catch up with her.

The three of them ventured into the graveyard together, into the thick fog that floated over the gravestones. This was a human graveyard, the same one were Jaina was buried, Jonathan realized. He had been here before, when his parents deemed him old enough to be told the story of his lost sister and accompany them to put flowers on her grave a week before the anniversary of her death. They never went on the anniversary because that was his birthday, a time to celebrate life rather than solemnly recall the loss of it.

The fog became thicker, so much that they couldn't see, or at least Ashimi and Jonathan's human eyes couldn't. "This way, hurry," a female voice called.

Jonathan paused and looked around. "Ashy?" He tried to follow the sound, but it was faint. "Let's stay together," he reminded the group, "we don't want to get lost in here," 'and get ambushed,' he mentally added. "Ashy? Zero?" There was no reply.

"This way..." The female voice called out again. "I'm over here... I'm waiting for you..."

Jonathan walked in the direction of the voice as if pulled by an unseen force. The fog began to clear around him and a figure became visible. He walked towards it until he saw that it was a girl and Gastly was floating next to her. "You..." Jonathan recognized the crimson haired girl. He saw the familiarity in her eyes. "So you did escape from the police after all. I knew they couldn't hold you, but I thought you'd take a little time off before causing trouble again." He looked at the Gastly. "You can talk, can't you?"

"I can..." The Gastly replied. "But it is not my words that you should hear, listen to the words of your sister."

Jaina held up a pokeball and the ghost willingly retreated into it. She looked at the grave next to where she stood. "It was fifteen years ago that I was stolen away. Fifteen years ago that I was pronounced dead." Jonathan recognized the grave, the name Jaina J. Kojiro displayed on it. "RIP, rest in peace... That's the last thing I've done."

Jonathan wanted to argue with her. He wanted to call her a liar, but when he looked into her green eyes, he couldn't. "What happened to you?" He finally choked out, his voice barely anything more than a whisper.

"I was stolen away to be trained as the perfect Rocket agent. I was to follow in our grandmother's footsteps, to live for Team Rocket and die for Team Rocket. The name I was given was Miyamoto, after the one whose reputation I was expected to live up to, but my true name was Jaina Joan, yet that name was dead to the world. It was all done by Giovanni's orders, he decided that Jessie and James didn't need to know. In fact, he only let them keep you so that Ash wouldn't suspect his foul play and start a fight over it. My life and my family was stolen from me by Team Rocket. It was all done so that Giovanni's heir could have a loyal agent to make all the sacrifices necessary for her rise to power. Ashimi didn't exist at the time, but Ash and Misty were engaged to be married and Giovanni knew that sooner or later an heir would follow. I must end Team Rocket, they've enslaved our family for too long. That's the exact same thing that she's doing to you!" Jaina cried. "Please brother, don't let another tyrant like Giovanni continue to live. Ash might be the exception, but his daughter isn't like him, she'll take over Team Rocket and you'll never be free." Tears streamed down her face as she stepped closer to Jonathan and gripped his shoulders as if trying to shake some sense into him. "Brother, please, I only want to save you, to free you, please don't hate me for caring about you."

"Jaina..." Jonathan could hear the beating of his own heart echoing in his ears, faster and faster, in shock of the revelation. Then another rhythmic sound, another heartbeat in tune with his, like twins. He didn't know how he could hear it, but as the sound faded what happened next surprised him even more. He felt a deep sorrow, an unbearable pain; was their bond as twins truly that deep despite having been raised apart? Was he feeling the pain and suffering she felt? "Jaina..." His arms moved on their own, wrapping around the girl crying on his shoulder. "Sister... I'm so sorry..."

To be Continued

As usual, no one can get that poor boy's name right. The names he gets called are once again from Final Fantasy, Cloud from VII, Tidus from X, Locke from IV, Seifer from VIII. Lavender Town wouldn't be the same without creepy pasta stories, so I had to reference that too. XD I want a 'keep calm and Rock on' tshirt. Things are getting dramatic! :o Special thanks to Matt for keeping me company on the Steam chat while I wrote this chapter. XD Awakening has reached the fifty thousand word mark and is officially novel size, and about half way done. XD See you in part 2 of Resentment, more surprises are to come!


	15. Chapter 15

Awakening

Chapter 15: Resentment (Part 2)

Ashimi was making herself bait as she walked deeper into the Lavender Town graveyard, that was the unspoken agreement Zero understood. He assumed that Jonathan was watching her just as closely as he was, but then a thought formed into the variables of his programming. Jonathan, or Ashimi or humans in general couldn't see as clearly as he could. "Johnny?" He took his eyes off Ashimi and looked around for his other companion, but he wasn't there. He looked towards Ashimi again, the fog was too thick, too unnatural. Even with his eyes, he would lose sight of her if she went too far, but not of Pichu, he could still detect Pichu. That was it, if Jonathan ran into trouble and called Foxtrot out, Zero would be able to detect him with his pokedex functions and figure out their location. None the less, Ashimi was the target, but he couldn't leave Jonathan to get further away and be ambushed at a distance where simply knowing his location didn't mean Ashimi would be there on time if he fell into a trap. Likewise, he wouldn't be able to make his way to Ashimi on time if he was too far, even if he somehow figured out her location. It was time to end the act. "Ashimi!"

Ashimi stopped and looked around, but she couldn't see were Zero was. His voice echoed unnaturally, a strange effect of the peculiar atmosphere of the graveyard. She felt the cool touch of a hand that wasn't quite human on hers. She stretched her fingers, feeling the soft fabric of the Buneary pajama's sleeve and looked into the foggy darkness. She could see a pair of glowing doll-like eyes staring right at her. Anyone else might think it's creepy, but Ashimi still found it to be cute. She grasped his hand tightly with a protective look in her eyes. "Where's Johnny?"

"I lost him, sorry, I was too focused on keeping track of you," Zero admitted. "But if he gets into trouble and calls Foxtrot out to fight, I'll be able to sense him," the virtual boy quickly added.

"Okay, we should still try to find him though, I lost track of Gastly," Ashimi voiced. "There's honestly not much I can do in this fog if... ow!"

The pained yelp came out of nowhere and Zero was instantly alertly looking around. "What happened? I don't see anything suspicious and I don't detect any pokemon nearby save for Pichu."

"No, it's Pichu," Ashimi removed the yellow pokemon from her head. "He started trembling when he came into the graveyard and just now he was pulling my hair for no reason." She cradled the electric mouse, trying to soothe him.

"Relax, Pichu, if there are enemy pokemon here, I'll detect them," Zero offered.

"Really Pichu, get it together, being a scardy-cat is Squirtle's department," Ashimi joked. Yet nothing seemed to work to make Pichu open his eyes. He just trembled in fear and buried his face on her chest, holding tightly to the pink fabric of her pajamas. If one of her bravest pokemon was acting this way, she didn't even want to think about letting Squirtle out of his pokeball, the poor dear would have a heart attack.

"Pokemon detected!" Zero suddenly called out, there was something off putting about the alarm in his voice.

"What is it? Is it super strong?" Ashimi should have been worried if that was the case, yet she couldn't help it but to express excitement at the prospective challenge.

"No, but I didn't sense him coming until he was very close," Zero frowned at the admission. Even with the bugs that came with being a discontinued prototype, a mere experiment, his pokedex functions shouldn't be affected. That was the only thing about him that worked as it should, and the thought of a failure in that area bothered him immensely. Was no part of him properly functional? It was frustrating.

"Maybe this fog is interfering with your signal or something," Ashimi consoled. The disappointment in Zero's voice was palpable. Pichu was in no conditions to battle, so Ashimi called out a different pokemon. "Furball, I choose you! You're pretty good at seeing in the dark, though this fog is in a class of its own. It's okay, Zero will guide you, so please listen to him. Sorry, but I can't see a thing, so I wouldn't be of much help."

"Me?" Zero stared at Ashimi in surprise. But he soon snapped out of when he realized there was no time to question her decision, Haunter was on the attack. 'C'mon pokedex, don't fail me now...' "Attack identified, shadow punch, calculating ideal counter attack..."

Furball hissed as the shadow punch hit him, it came out of nowhere and it creeped him out. Ashimi would have warned him if not for the fact that she didn't see it coming. "Zero, I know the latest pokedex come with the option of identifying attacks and suggesting the ideal counter attack, but that's just for studying. You can't rely on it in the heat of battle, there's no time so just go with your gut and don't forget to warn Furball of what's happening. This fog is too thick even for his eyes."

"I can't do this. My pokedex and email functions are the only parts of me that aren't riddled with programming bugs and even that might not be the case after all. My AI is... it's a total unstable mess!" Zero exclaimed, the admission bothering him more than he thought it would. It was the truth and he knew it from the start. "I don't know why Pixel didn't scrap me, I don't know why she told me to travel with you and find the spark of life, whatever that is, I'm nothing but a walking drive of errors."

Haunter made a loud noise like a battle cry. "Zero, what's happening?" Ashimi urged. Pichu let out a whimper as he began to cry. "It's okay Pichu, it's okay." What was wrong with him? He was usually so brave, Ashimi didn't understand. "Do you want to go in your pokeball?" Pichu paused then whimpered a sound of ascent. Ashimi was surprised by this choice, but did as he asked, the pokeball was not locked, so he could come out if he wanted. None the less, Pichu's reaction was very unsettling to Ashimi.

Zero watched as the Haunter formed a ball of ghostly energy in his hands and threw it. "Furball, dodge to the right!" Though the feline still had his doubts, he obeyed and was spared the hit from the shadow ball. "Now charge forward, jump and night slash!" Furball couldn't see where he was going, this fog was definitely not a normal type of darkness. He followed the instructions and landed his attack, the Haunter crying out in pain. The ghost had enough and quickly retreated into the fog. Zero was only able to detect him for a few more seconds before the wild pokemon dropped off his mental radar. "Haunter is gone, or rather out of range. I can't sense anything beyond a few feet's distance."

Ashimi knew what that meant. If Jonathan was facing an ambush and already had his pokemon out, Zero wouldn't know unless he was close by. Furball whimpered and Zero directed Ashimi to him. The feline reached for his trainer and rubbed against her leg, he was trembling and it wasn't simply because the night was chilly. "There's definitely something wrong about this fog, it looks like it induces fear the longer the pokemon are exposed to it, the longer anyone is exposed to it," she admitted. "Though it looks like it works a lot faster on pokemon. I can still keep a clear head for now, I think. I just have to keep telling myself there's nothing to fear, but what if there's truly something terrible here? What if some of the creepy pasta tales of Lavender Town are true?"

"Let's not think about that now," Zero half pleaded. 'Disable fear element... disable... I know it interferes with the proper running of the AI, but disable it anyway... There, I think that should do it,' Zero fought against his programming to end any simulations of fear, because that's all he had for emotions, simulations, he mused. Yet his AI was made to replicate the human psyche and fear could not be so easily shut down. Instead the fear piled up in his background processes and his system continued to accumulate more bugs and contradictions, more errors.

"This isn't good," Ashimi recalled Furball into his pokeball. He should be protected from the fear inducing effects of the fog in his pokeball. "We have to find Johnny and finish this, we need to turn this trap around."

"Or we could find Johnny and retreat," Zero suggested.

"No," Ashimi frowned, her eyes determined. "This time we stand together, we can watch each other's backs, there's no way we can fail. Well we're not together now, but we'll find Johnny. His pokemon, my pokemon and you directing them, we can turn this around!"

"Pokemon detected!" Zero warned. "It's Gengar, a really strong Gengar! I actually detected him from further away this time, probably because he's so strong, but he's getting closer!"

"It's okay, we can do this!" Ashimi tried to stay positive.

"No, we can't, we have to retreat, that Gengar is too strong and he's in mega form!" Zero argued.

Ashimi remained unconvinced, she groaned in frustration, why couldn't everyone just be motivated like she was? "I left my cell phone in my bag at the pokemon center, what does your pokedex program say about his power level?" The fog was clearing up and Ashimi could see the imposing silhouette of the Gengar. The ghost approached with a confident stride.

"It's over ninety!" It was Ninety-two to be precise, but everyone knew that anything above ninety was huge and almost never attributed to non-legendaries. Zero felt his systems overwhelm, error messages flashed through his mind in rapid succession and before he could do anything about it the words came out of his mouth on their own accord. "System crash," and the world went blue.

"Zero?" Ashimi catch the virtual boy before he hit the ground. She weighed her options and despite her fighting spirit telling her to stay, she took the wiser path. "Retreat!" She picked up the motionless Zero and ran for dear life.

Though Ashimi tripped and stumbled along the way, the fog eventually cleared up enough to allow her to see by the light of the full moon and star filled skies. Zero was still unconscious, but at least it didn't look like the Gengar had followed them. She really would have loved to catch it, but she had to admit he was too strong. Zero's eyes opened all of a sudden, but where the gradient went from black, up to blue, it now went from black to golden. Ashimi wondered if he had restarted in a sort of safe mode, but his wicked grin made him look anything but safe.

Before she could speak, Zero's small hands went to Ashimi's throat. She tried to pull him off, but he was surprisingly strong for such a small boy. Of course, he was not a normal boy by any means. "Ze... ro..." Ashimi felt the world start to fade, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't think. Darkness threatened to reclaim her and never let her go. Her arms fell motionless at her sides, she couldn't fight any longer. Then, when she felt as if she would die, a warmth invaded her, as if a dim light buried deep within her had suddenly ignited. She opened her eyes with an odd glow reflected in them. Her hand reached out and gently rested on the boy's head, then she smiled and fainted.

The gradient colors in Zero's eyes went back to black and blue. He pulled his arms back and saw the unconscious Ashimi. "Ashimi?" He didn't know what was happening. He didn't remember what he did. "Ashimi?" He called out again, panic rising in his voice. He didn't think about suppressing the fear this time, it was simply too strong. "Ashimi!" He shook her, trying to wake her up, "Ashimi! Ashimi!"

"Ugh..." Slowly, Ashimi opened her eyes and saw Zero's frightened and sad expression. "Zero? Are you okay now?"

"Me? I'm not the one who's lying on the ground!" Zero hugged her, an overload of data passing through his systems at higher speeds than he could analyze it. "Please don't scare me like that again."

Ashimi hugged him back. It didn't look like Zero remembered what he did. Maybe some sort of deeply buried defense program was triggered. She might have to find a gentle way to ask about that later. But for now, she would hold him and reassure him that everything was okay. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that they ended up back close to the entrance of the graveyard. "Zero, I want you to go back to the pokemon center."

"What? No!" Zero immediately refused. "I can't leave you here to go look for Johnny alone! What if the fog comes back?"

Ashimi sighed, there was no easy way around this. She didn't want to make Zero feel bad, but it looked like she had no choice but to tell him the truth, or at least part of it. "You don't remember, do you? You crashed..."

"I know," Zero knew that much, but he didn't remember his initial restart. "When I rebooted you were on the ground. What happened?"

Ashimi frowned as she looked into Zero's eyes. He was genuinely concerned for her. So what if he was virtual, so what if he was full of errors? He was real to her, he was a precious friend. "You rebooted before that and your actions made no sense. I'm sorry Zero, but I can't protect you and myself, and look for Johnny at the same time. The fog is clearing up, I'll be fine. If you stay here, your system will get worse. I don't want you to feel bad, but you really do need to debug, please Zero, you're my friend and I don't want to lose you!"

Zero looked sad. "Alright..." He couldn't argue, he was a burden. A part of him knew that's not what Ashimi was saying, but even if she didn't see him like that, it didn't make it any less true. "I'll be waiting at the pokemon center for you and Johnny to return."

It broke Ashimi's heart to see Zero so sad, but she honestly thought this was the best choice to make. Zero couldn't be exposed to any more critical situations, especially if they made him lose himself. She was afraid for him a lot more than for herself. As for her own actions, Ashimi didn't remember much except being choked and fainting. She had no idea what had began to be unlocked as a consequence of her first true near death experience. Unaware of the presence watching her, Ashimi stood by as Zero disappeared down the street. She gathered her courage and ventured back into the graveyard. She still had her pokemon in their pokeballs and perhaps now that the fog was less they wouldn't fall victim to their fears. Even so, Ashimi hope that she wouldn't have to face that Gengar again. In the controlled setting of an official pokemon battle, playing by the rules, it would be epic, but the more rational side of her knew that in the wild it would be fatal.

The power of a pokemon was measured in a standard scale of one to one hundred. In that context, one hundred wasn't the maximum amount of power a specific pokemon could reach, but rather the highest power recorded, which was typically attributed only to legendary pokemon. Not all pokemon had the same kind of power, thus even with intensive training, not all would reach a power level of one hundred, or even ninety. Anything above ninety was extremely strong and rare to come by. Such a level was very uncommon in the wild, as the strongest wild pokemon usually only reached up to fifty and even that was not easy to come by in a pokemon that had not been trained specifically for battle by a human.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Jaina had spent some time talking to Jonathan, who seemed convinced by her story. "I know it must be difficult to think badly of someone you and your parents so deeply respect, but that's how it is. Ultimately, I didn't live up to Giovanni's expectations, I didn't become the next Miyamoto, and I was pushed to run away."

Jonathan wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know how his parents would react to something like this, but he knew it wouldn't be good. What if they panicked? What if his mother's temper surfaced and she confronted Giovanni? What if they both did? They would be branded as traitors and... Who knows, he didn't want to think about their terrible fate. No, he couldn't tell them, at least not yet. Maybe if he somehow resolved things, once it was all said and done he could tell them gently, but not yet. Although, if he was honest, he didn't know how things could ever be resolved. "Don't tell mom and dad. I know it's selfish of me to ask you this, but please don't tell them or they might do something they'll regret, and we'll regret."

Jaina nodded, "alright, I'll respect your judgment. I know it's hard to accept, but that girl," she referred to Ashimi. "No matter what Giovanni does, she's going to be on his side, she's going to justify him, and that will make it all the easier for him to make her his true heir."

Jonathan did not reply. He knew that Ashimi was strong, determined and brave, but she sometimes blurred the lines, claiming to want to have her journey separate from Team Rocket, and occasionally accepting help from them as long as it didn't directly interfere with her training. He saw no real problem with it so far, but would she become more open to such advantages later down the road? He had always admired how she wanted to earn her place in the world, rather than inherit it from her Rocket boss grandfather, or her pokemon master father, or gym leader mother. Yet she did often justify Giovanni's actions and paint them in an almost heroic light, she respected him, but then so did Jonathan. Was it wrong?

Jaina let out a tired breath, looking emotionally strained. "I'll give you time to let it all sink in. We'll meet again soon, until then, farewell, brother." Jaina walked away, disappearing into the light mist of the night.

"Be safe... sister," Jonathan whispered into the night. He went down on his knees in front of the grave marked as belonging to his twin. His hand reached out to touch the tombstone. "Why... Why did it have to be this way?" His parents, betrayed by the man they admired and served for decades, the one he had been trained to work for, the king of the empire he called home. It was frustrating, it was heart breaking, it was infuriating. The first time he had visited the grave he was old enough to understand the meaning of life and death. Enough time had passed for his parents to bring flowers without breaking down, without crying. It was a solemn, but not a desperate occasion and there were no tears that time, only gentle hugs and words of comfort. But this time, he did cry.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Johnny!" Ashimi called at the top of her lungs. She shivered, she had been in that graveyard for far too long. "Johnny!" Her worry increased with every moment that passed without a reply. She was putting herself at risk by continuing the search, but she didn't know what else to do. It was kind of like when Jonathan put her safety before his own health, she felt that she now fully understood and was thankful for his loyalty, which was all the more reason to find him. "Johnny, answer me!" The fog became darker. "Not again!" Soon, Ashimi couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. She tried to move forward and stumbled. "Johnny!" There was no reply from the one who she was calling, but she did hear a voice howling in laughter. "Gengar..." She gasped in a breathless whisper. Maybe she could run away from him again, maybe he wouldn't chase her. Her hopes were dashed into pieces when the face of the pokemon appeared a mere inch from hers. Ashimi yelled and stumbled back, falling to the ground.

Up close, Ashimi could see that the mega Gengar was a darker color than most, with odd ghostly ripples flowing through his being. There was something about him that spoke of an experienced power and somehow she knew that this ghost was quite old, older than her and older than her parents at least. Yet the pokemon's age had not diminished his power, all the opposite, the passing of time had made him stronger. It would take nothing short of a legendary pokemon to defeat this fearsome foe!

Another figure appeared before Ashimi, if possible more imposing and eerie than the ghost. The cloaked figure approached her, floating in the air. "By this time your father's aura was stronger than yours. You have more sense, more rationale, though you still have his impulsiveness, your grandfather made sure you were also properly educated as a strategist. You think more, a valuable quality to have as the head of an organization, but there is no benefit without a consequence, for you also sense less. That is alright, though, you cannot believe that everything will work out in a situation such as yours, realism is just as valuable as optimism. "

"Sabrina..." Ashimi whispered the name in an uncomfortable gasp. That fog, that darkness, it must have been her who was causing it. No wonder it was so hard to see, it wasn't a physical barrier that could be penetrated with sharp eye sight or even a flashlight if she had one on hand, it was a mental state that numbed the senses and prevented images from being properly interpreted. Yet Zero was a program, Sabrina couldn't invade his psyche in the same magnitude as with a living creature. He would still be affected, as he was meant to function as a human, but his systems couldn't emulate the trance completely and in this case, the inaccuracy of his technology turned out to be beneficial. Yet, it was only a matter of time before his system was overloaded by the nonsensical data it received from the supernatural.

"Your technological doll is a very peculiar thing, it was ironic that it did what Gengar set out to do," the psychic laughed. As she leaned over Ashimi, the young girl could just barely make out the shadowy features of the woman's face in the darkness within her hood, Sabrina's eyes were glowing. "To push you to the brink of death." The crimson haired girl had nothing to do with her and was not considered important enough to delay Sabrina's plans. The psychic sensed a state of heightened emotion in Ashimi as she fought for Clefable, then the energy had faded away and she was once more at peace. Sabrina grew impatient, she decided that the next time she felt an emotional high on Ashimi's part, she would take the chance to push her all the way, to awaken the aura that was so deeply buried, that the girl had not managed to awaken it herself. That time came when Ashimi thought she was about to face an ambush in the graveyard and was filled with memories of her last experience with Clefable's kidnapping and the trap she walked into.

Ashimi stared into the glow of Sabrina's eyes, unable to move. "Why? Why would you want to kill me?" She didn't understand. Had she not passed Sabrina's test? Did the marsh badge not prove that?

"I don't, I only needed you to be close to death so that your aura would have no choice but to come out to save you," Sabrina explained.

"Aura..." Ashimi echoed the word quietly. She had seen her father control the mysterious power freely, but she could never do what he did. Time and again she tried to conjure an orb of light in the palm of her hand, but it wouldn't come. She tried to sense things, to know what couldn't be picked up by normal senses, but it always turned into a guessing game. "Dad said every living creature has some aura in them, but it might not be enough to project it in every case. Is mine really enough?"

"Barely," Sabrina's voice echoed with a hint of disappointment. "Your aura is as dormant as the aura of most. It's alright though, it can be made stronger and more usable. All you have to do is open your senses and feel the world around you. Experience the aura until that sense becomes something that feels natural, until you feel like one of your senses is missing without it, then you can prevented from becoming dormant again and train to use it."

"I want to be able to use it," Ashimi admitted, though her voice sounded more shy than eager. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that clung to every inch of her being.

"It doesn't matter if you want it or not, your aura will be motivated to grow by the need to survive," Sabrina voiced ominously. "You will feel it, you will loathe it and if you wish to keep your sanity, you will master it." Sabrina's index finger touched Ashimi's forehead and the redhead felt her whole body begin to glow. A sound like shattering glass echoed in her mind and the world spun rapidly around her. Sabrina moved her hand away and stood, leaving Ashimi on the ground on her hands and knees. The psychic recalled her Gengar into his pokeball and disappeared, teleporting away to a location unknown to the girl left behind.

Ashimi felt herself tremble, strange echoes filled her ears and she could see foggy currents that were not there before. Her breathing was ragged and uneven and her heart felt like it would burst. Tears flowed down her face as she was filled with a strong sense of mourning, of helplessness and of pain. Her eyes were wide and frightened, everything looked scary, everything sounded scary, everything felt disturbing and wrong. "Sabrina?" She called out in a shaky voice. "Sabrina!" There was no reply. "Don't... Don't leave me here!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "Johnny! Zero! Mom! Dad! Grandma! Grandpa! Anyone!" An ear splitting wail escaped her throat, she screamed until her voice cracked and she fell to the floor. Her pokemon popped out of their pokeballs and tried to comfort her. The fear inducing unnatural fog was gone, but seeing their trainer break down in desperate fearful tears scared them even more. Squirtle was the first to break down in tears and wail desperately.

"Ashimi!" Jonathan arrived, running towards her. He saw the pokemon huddled around Ashimi, but saw no sign of any enemies. That worried him even more, it made him think the attack had already come and gone. "Is she injured?" He examined the trembling girl, but saw no signs of blood, in fact, though there were some minor tears in her clothes, he didn't see any of the bruises she had earlier. It didn't make sense that she would heal so fast, unknown to them it was an effect of the aura. "Where are you hurt?" He looked her over once more, unable to locate any injuries. Then he noticed something, all the pokemon were out of their pokeballs crowded around Ashimi, they seemed to be physically unharmed, but there was someone missing from the group. "Where's Zero? Did something happen to him?" A million terrible theories ran through Jonathan's head. Zero was a virtual being, why would anyone target him? Had he been kidnapped? No, Ashimi would be running off to save him if that was the case. Her cries were so desperate and sad, had Zero been murdered before her eyes? Somehow deleted into a nothingness that was his version of death?

"He's at the pokemon center," Ashimi choked out. "I... I need to see dad, please, I need him," somehow she knew that her father was the only one who could get her through this. She fought to calm down, but it was extremely difficult. The shadows and the dim light both felt like predators to her. She was even afraid of her pokemon and of Johnny. Her pokemon's desperation was hurting her and from Johnny she felt pain, doubts, confusion and worry. "Stop... Stop making me feel so awful!" She screamed.

"What do you mean? What's attacking you?" Jonathan still saw no one. Was it some kind of mental attack? Who could be capable of that? "Let's get out of here, let's go back to the pokemon center." He wasn't sure why Zero had gone back without Ashimi, but assumed there must have been a good reason that he would inquire about later. For now, the only thing he could think about doing was getting Ashimi out of the graveyard and taking her to the relative safety of the pokemon center.

To be Continued

Zero's "it's over ninety!" quote is a reference to Vegeta's famous "it's over nine thousand!" I know I already explained this in the story, but to clarify about the levels: In the games 100 would mean the maximum power a pokemon has. In the context of the story it is a standard scale for all pokemon. They don't all have the same kind of power, so not all of them can necessarily reach 100 in this context. A score of 100 is generally given to legendary pokemon only and anything above 90 is close to legendary power, thus extremely strong and rare to come by.

When someone faints it is said the world went black, or dark, since they close their eyes as they lose consciousness, in Zero's case it's blue because he's virtual and rather than shutting down completely, he got a blue screen of doom.

For those who have read Don't Give Me Diamonds, Sabrina's Haunter, now Gengar, appeared there as a pokemon belonging to a Rocket agent called Aayla in an era before Ash's birth. Various circumstances led to him living at the tower in Lavender Town, where Ash later met him in the events taking place in the first season of the anime. He ends up as Sabrina's pokemon in the anime and is once again seen here as one of her strongest pokemon. The Alakazam Sabrina used against Ashimi at the gym in earlier chapters was actually one of her younger pokemon, not nearly as strong as her Gengar.


	16. Chapter 16

Awakening

Chapter 16: Limit Break

The sunrise found Ashimi in a corner of the guest room of the Lavender Town pokemon center, still looking scared. She was taking deep breaths in big gulps of air that made her look and sound like a Magikarp out of water. The feeling of helpless sadness wasn't as strong at the pokemon center, but she still felt very uneasy. She had showered and changed out of her pajamas, though even that simple task was not as easy as it would normally be. She kept fumbling with her clothes clumsily, then she dropped the soap at least five times and nearly slipped on several occasions. Ashimi's pokemon were all around her, trying to be as supportive as they could, though their worry shone through. Zero tried to cheer her up as well, but he was feeling like a mistake that should have never been activated and the frustrating uselessness that plagued his system didn't make the task any easier.

Jonathan paced the room impatiently. He made sure Ashimi ate something, though her lack of appetite, a sharp contrast with her usual deep enjoyment of food, made him worry even more than he already was. His stress threatened to consume him as thoughts of his sister and her tragic life surfaced to join his current worries. When they had returned to the pokemon center the previous night, Jonathan found that he had several missed calls on his cell phone. The calls originated from the Cerulean City gym and he assumed that Ashimi must have even more missed calls from her parents. Being unable to reach her, they must have tried to contact him instead. Ashimi had been asking for her father, so Jonathan returned the call. It was Misty who answered, she had told him that Ash had already left, insisting that he had sensed something troubling, then she flooded him with questions about the whereabouts and state of health of her daughter. He had assured her that Ashimi wasn't injured or in any immediate danger, but she was inexplicably scared. Not long after the call with Misty ended, Jonathan got a call from Ash. The pokemon master assured that he was on his way and would be there soon.

The door was suddenly open and Ash made his way across the room to his daughter. "Daddy!" She jumped into his arms, holding on tightly. "Everything feels so strange, Sabrina said I had to master my aura, please teach me!"

"Ashimi..." Ash tried to keep his voice at a soothing tone for Ashimi's sake. "Tell me what happened." He looked into her eyes as she nodded and narrated the events that took place in the graveyard the previous night. Of course, she left out Johnny's conversation with Jaina because she had not witnessed that, thus didn't know anything about it. She also left out Zero's berserk moment, since she had settled into the idea that it was just an error and he could fix it with more debugging. Instead, she just said she fainted while running away from Gengar and Zero woke her a little later. She didn't remember her use of aura to make him regain control, not that there was any way to explain that, because Zero was not alive in the traditional sense anyway.

Ash frowned, "I can't believe she would do that," he growled in unforgiving anger. If his father had put Sabrina up to this, he would have a thing or two to say to him. "Listen, Ashimi, I'll try to explain this as well as I can. I've studied some of this over time, but the true knowledge of aura is a lost art. As I've said before, every living creature has some aura in them, though it is usually not enough to be projected and remains in a dormant state. At times it can wake up during moments of crisis or danger, that's how people sometimes inexplicably gain the knowledge or strength that saves their lives, their aura gives them clarity and power. However, there is a sort of seal that keeps aura deep within so that it isn't used up, as that can be life threatening. That seal is something natural and necessary for the aura's protection, though it also numbs the extra sensory perception it can provide. "

"When I use aura, the seal is still there, but there's enough aura to seep out and be projected. I've learn to control it to the point where I can call it out at will," Ash explained. "What Sabrina did to you was that she broke the seal, leaving your aura exposed. Instead of learning to coax it out you felt it all at once. You were in a graveyard, a place of sadness and dark energy, all of that overwhelmed your senses. When your friends became worried about you, you felt their worry and their fear for you, and that only made it worse. Without the seal to protect your aura, you're basically hyper sensitive to the flow of energy and emotions of those around you. You can also call out all your aura at once, but if you did that you would..."

Ash couldn't complete the sentence, but Ashimi understood, "I would die," she finished. She let out a breath and continued. "I can sense it, your energy flowing into me. I see the worry in your eyes, but I feel nothing but peace coming from you and it's not just me, it's everyone here, your energy is making them all calm down."

Ash nodded, a small smile forming on his face for his daughter's sake. Pulling off that technique was not easy, he was stressed and worried, but he needed to keep those emotions to himself and project nothing but peace. It was also why he insisted that Misty should wait at the Cerulean gym. Naturally, she would be concerned about her daughter, but then Ash would have one more person to calm with his aura. Ash knew that if he tried to train Ashimi to suppress her aura she wouldn't be receptive to it. She wanted to wield it, not hold it back, she had always dreamed of having the same power her father had. But it was too dangerous, without a limit to hold back the bare essentials of her life force, she could consume it all with frightening ease.

The only way she could be properly trained was if he could find a way to restore the natural seal, if there was even a way. For now, Ash had to buy more time. If she was in any dangerous situations or even in a particularly exciting pokemon battle, he feared that the emotional high would make her project too much of her aura and set off a deadly chain reaction that would leave her drained, in a long coma, or dead. "I'll train you, but you'll have to take a break from your pokemon journey, it's important that you learn to control your aura now that it has awakened, so we need to head home for a while."

"Okay..." Ashimi agreed, thinking that it was an imperative detour and by no means a permanent one. She reasoned that after the training was done she would go back to her quest for more badges.

Thus Ashimi's pokemon journey reached a pause. She and Ash returned to Cerulean City. Jonathan and Zero accompanied them on the trip and stayed for a while before heading off to Saffron City to meet up with Jessie and James and work on some Rocket business. Ash contacted Giovanni about Sabrina's actions, he claimed not to know anything about it and Ash concluded that his father was telling the truth. Angered by the danger Ashimi was put in, the Rocket boss sent his agents out to hunt for Sabrina, but she was not at her gym and locating her would prove to be a very difficult task.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days later, Zero returned to the Viridian Rocket headquarters in hopes of getting some form of patch or upgrade, though the fact of the matter was that he couldn't. The virtual human project was canceled for a reason, it was simply too difficult to emulate the complex human psyche with the existing resources. "I'm sorry Zero, but I didn't actually program you, no one did. You were made from two brain scans, the computer produced an AI from there, taking random traits from both sets of data. The data was deleted for security reasons, though only personality traits and not actual information was passed on. Basic knowledge was installed and that was it. I do not have the brain scans anymore, and even if I took them again, they wouldn't be exactly the same. In fact, even if I had them, they wouldn't mix exactly the same. You are unique, a one time achievement."

"Can't you look into it? Ashimi said I was acting nonsensical," Zero wasn't sure what that meant, he knew it was bad, but he didn't know how bad. He placed his hand on the metal cylinder before him, the container from where the voice came.

"That's only because you tried to override your AI simulation for your convenience. You can't turn off emotions, that's also part of the deal that comes with your realism." The metal cylinder opened up and out stepped a woman. She closed off the cylinder again and examined her reflection on the smooth mirror-like surface. She looked very much human, good, no one needed to know at a glance how many machine components she had. She started out as a hacker for Team Rocket who had to climb from the bottom. Over time she turned into a sort of technological jack of all trades, and master of none, she would joke. Then when the chance presented itself to become a cyborg... She held back, waited for the technology to become stable and then she joined the project. "I didn't program you, I can't make heads or tails of your data, I wouldn't know what to fix because I don't know what it's supposed to be like. It's far too complicated, that's why I used a brain scan instead of just programming, because I couldn't have made something this complex."

Zero pouted cutely. "Why didn't you just deactivate me after the project was cancelled, I'm no good to Team Rocket."

Pixel reached out and ruffled his hair. "Because you're cute, that's why I decided to keep you."

"But then you sent me away..." Zero continued to pout.

"Because being with Ashimi would do you some good. See the world, make friends, then you might just..." She decided to leave the statement hanging, there was no simple way to explain that she hoped something inexplicable would occur. "I have to prepare for a mission, Comet is already getting the others up to speed. When we're back, we'll play with you, okay?"

Zero found it in himself to smile, "okay..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Later that night, while Zero remained at headquarters, Pixel, Comet and two younger agents made their way into a building in the northern side of Pewter City. It was suspected to be the hiding place of one of Sabrina's minions, who could possibly have information on her whereabouts. Pixel was well attuned with machines, being partially one herself, and would be giving the other agents guidance from the rooftop, watching everything unfold through various security cameras inside the building. Comet was a high ranking spy whose missions often involved infiltration and the theft or recovery of various valuables.

The younger agents were Jonathan and Dorme. He had reported to headquarters as per Giovanni's orders, who claimed Jessie and James could do their duties without additional help and he could be placed in a more productive position. Jonathan was plagued with doubts and mixed feelings about Team Rocket that he was having a hard time coming to terms with. Dorme was called back from her unsuccessful hunts for Daala and Jaina. It felt as if they had dropped off the face of the earth, probably spooked into hiding by the heavy Rocket activity as they combed Kanto looking for Sabrina. They were searching in other regions too, but Kanto had always been Sabrina's home and it deserved special attention. Plus Giovanni happened to know that teleporting was a lot easier for Sabrina in familiar territory. Her teleportation would consume a lot more energy per distance outside of Kanto, and would be less precise, though she was still a formidable opponent.

Dorme seemed all too eager to participate in the Sabrina hunt, albeit she didn't actually expect to find anything. This was the suspected location of a minion, not Sabrina herself, and most leads had turned out to be duds anyway. Even so, the blond was still energetic about the mission since Johnny would be her partner and Comet, one of the nicer high ranked agents, would be on the field with them. Plus Pixel was directing the mission and usually gave good reviews. This was their chance to score some points in their Rocket careers. Dorme and Johnny's part of the mission was simple. All they had to do was provide backup in case Sabrina's underling really was there and tried to escape. They waited in the first floor of the closed office building, leaning against a cubicle wall. "I heard he's a werewolf," Dorme commented about Comet.

Jonathan couldn't help it but to roll his eyes. "High ranked Rocket spy, fact, Misty's relative, fact, nice to the rookies despite his rank, fact, werewolf, definitely fiction, as all werewolves are."

"It was just a rumor, it's not like I actually believed it," Dorme pouted. "Comet is obviously not a werewolf, he's not hairy enough. As for all werewolves being fiction, I doubt that, they're just extinct. I happened to know for a fact some years back, before we were born, a female was found, she had fangs and claws and everything and purple hair!"

"It was probably just some weirdo furry," Jonathan laughed.

"Was not!" Dorme stomped her foot. "I asked Laiki about it because if the werewolf was real, then surely Team Rocket must have gone after her. Even if Laiki was a toddler at the time, she would know, because she makes it her business to know every piece of gossip and Team Rocket going werewolf hunting sounds like a hot topic to me. But you know what? She didn't outright deny it like I thought she would. She got all uncomfortable and clammed up, Laiki never clams up! She definitely know something but she won't tell."

"Right..." Jonathan laughed. "Why are we discussing Comet's possible species anyway. I thought it was pretty clear he's a human."

"He would look older by now," Dorme pointed out.

"Don't tell me you think he's a vampire," Jonathan joked.

"Of course not, he doesn't sparkle in the sun," Dorme shook her head.

Jonathan looked downright offended. "Dorme," He looked so serious that it made Dorme uneasy. She wordlessly nodded her head and waited in silence for him to continue. "Vampires do not sparkle in the sunlight or sparkle at all. If they go out in the sun they burst into flames and die." Dorme looked as if she was going to open her mouth to protest and cite some modern legend from her mother's youth, but Jonathan raised his hand in a sign of silence and repeated, almost obsessively. "They burst into flames and die." Dorme had no choice but to nod solemnly. An uncomfortable silence passed, during which Jonathan maintained the same serious look and Dorme shifted awkwardly. When the quiet finally got to Jonathan, he added, "I don't think he's a vampire either."

"Huh?" Dorme blinked, then was able to pick up on the thread of conversation they were having before. "Oh, I don't think so either, but then how do you explain the way he looks? He should look older."

"He has white hairs," Jonathan pointed out.

"But he has the face and body of a twenty-something," Dorme specified.

"He works out," Jonathan logically suggested.

"His face? It's flawless!" Dorme dramatized.

"Plastic surgery?" It felt unlikely, but he had to guess.

"Nah, he's not the type to go through the trouble and if he was, he'd dye his hair too," the blond mused.

"Um... he... takes his pokemon chewy vitamins every day?" Jonathan guessed.

"I doubt that alone would work," Dorme breathe hopelessly, though she still made a mental note to take her vitamins every day. "It makes sense that Pixel looks twenty-something, she's an android after all."

"Cyborg," Jonathan corrected. "Androids are human-looking robots, cyborgs are humans with mechanical enhancements. Please Dorme, get it right."

"Sorry if my collection of digital comics isn't as big as yours," Dorme crossed her arms and threw her head back. "How many drives do you have anyway?"

"A bunch..." Jonathan admitted. "All together they're maybe an exabyte... or two... or three," he saw Dorme giving him an impatient look. "Okay fine, it's seven, but they're really high definition, so yeah..."

Dorme's jaw dropped, "sheesh..."

"The theories will have to wait, we have confirmation, there's a psychic here!" Comet's voice came through Jonathan and Dorme's ear pieces.

"Theories? I thought these things were set to receive only, he was listening?" Dorme felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. Pixel was probably listening in too. 'Way to look like an idiot rookie,' Dorme mentally berated herself.

"Jamming signal detected on the third floor. It looks like there's a machine that can amplify psychic waves being used to jam the pokeball mechanisms," Pixel's voice warned.

"What?!" Dorme hurried to try to release her pokemon from their confinement inside the red and white capsules, but it was already too late. "It won't work. I thought Team Rocket had defenses for this! Why isn't Pixel fixing it? Is she busy with something else?"

"We must be too close to the source of the jamming signal, let's go!" Jonathan hurried towards the elevator. "Pixel, are the elevators usable, are you controlling them?"

Noises filtered in, originating from Comet's location. There were arguments, yelling and the sounds of a struggle, then the communication channel from Comet was cut. "Stay in the first floor until further notice," Pixel ordered, then ended the communication between them as a whole.

"What happened to Comet?" Jonathan asked, but received no reply. "Come in Pixel," nothing, "she cut us off, or the enemy did."

"I'm getting all antsy just standing here," Dorme paced back and forth a little. She tapped on her ear piece, but it remained unresponsive.

"We don't want to get stuck in the elevators if Pixel isn't controlling them, let's take the stairs," Jonathan started moving towards them.

"What?" Dorme gasped. "We can't disobey a direct order! We already look bad enough by chatting on the job like that. Pixel said to stay here!"

"The communication is out and there's nothing to prove that Pixel cut it herself. Maybe she intended to say something else but didn't have time. The pokeballs aren't working, Comet is fighting the psychic alone, shouldn't we be giving him some backup?" Jonathan reasoned. He didn't wait for Dorme's reply before rushing up the stairs.

"Comet knows what he's doing. If we get scolded for poking our noses where they don't belong, it's going to be all your fault!" Dorme hurried after Jonathan despite her protests.

The two young Rockets arrived at the third floor quickly. The place was dark with desks and chairs overturned, piled against the walls as if thrown aside by a tremendous force. Up ahead there was what could only be described as a false wall. It was wooden and not very thick, but it was painted to look like the concrete structure of the rest of the building. The room was large, encompassing the entire floor, and it would be difficult to tell that there were a few feet of it missing, sealed off towards the back. The false wall had been broken and there was a deep darkness beyond the hole. Jonathan and Dorme ventured in. There were shelves with cabinets, though they took no time to look through them.

They found a ladder going down and took it. The part that corresponded to the second and first floor was hidden in the center of a fountain. The pillar with water that went up and down in spiraling lines with invisible transparent tubes that made it look as if gravity and physics ceased to exist, reached from the floor of the first floor to the roof of the second. It was decorative and most would attribute its thickness to the mechanisms needed to guide the water in such a seemingly magical way, the building's workers never suspected there was a ladder in its hollow center.

The ladder led to a hidden basement that was not reported in the official plans of the building. A tall door stood before them with a red R engraved on it. "Team Rocket..." Dorme whispered.

"I think I know what this is," Jonathan recalled the place being mentioned by his parents. "It used to be a Rocket hide out, but it's too small and not in use anymore. The Rockets now go to that breeding center near the gym. Brock comes and goes, but since taking over the Pewter gym again he hasn't been there as often. He plans to go back to the breeding center full time, even if he had to work with Team Rocket to keep it, after Brand is old enough to manage the Pewter City gym. I doubt even a psychic could hide here for long, he must have broken in recently." Jonathan pushed the large doors aside, they were unlocked and open a crack. He opened the doors just enough to slip through and went in, followed by Dorme.

The basement was rather large, but empty. It was dark, humid and it smelled of dust and abandonment. A lone light flickered in the middle of the room. The two young Rockets ventured further in. There was an odd armor-like machine with wires and circuitry sticking out, sparks were still coming from it, as if it had been ripped apart recently. "Stop!" A desperate voice pleaded and there was a sound of someone being thrown against a wall, but it was too dark in that corner to see from afar. Jonathan turned on a tiny flashlight, which provided considerable illumination for being so small. "No, don't come any closer!" Approaching the voice they found a young man, a rookie psychic at best, in a corner cowering in fear. He looked up at the Rockets, "I surrender!"

"Wow, this guy's pretty bloody and beaten, looks like a few bones are broken too," Dorme observed, the helpless psychic was simply in too much pain to focus enough to use his powers anymore. "Was it Comet?"

"There's no one else here," Jonathan voiced. "It's a bit of overkill, but I suppose this guy must have done something to make him mad." The helpless psychic gasped and looked up fearfully. Quiet steps approached behind Jonathan and Dorme. The Rockets turned to look and found a very angry looking Comet. Before they could even blink, Comet grasped both their throats and lifted them off the floor.

"Comet!" Pixel suddenly made it into the room. "Put them down, they're our allies." She was wearing her armor now, black with a red R on the chest and silver on the boots and forearms, the armor held all the necessary components to act as a computer she could use for her role of tech support during missions. Comet's grip on their throats loosened but he didn't let them go. Dorme and Jonathan kept trying to pull his hands away, utterly confused about his inexplicable actions, but they couldn't get free. Comet was usually described as one of the 'cool' agents, who didn't throw his rank around if he could help it and was looked upon with a trustful sort of respect by the younger Rockets. "Comet," Pixel repeated, her tone softer now, as she removed her helmet. Comet dropped the two young Rockets, who took in gasping breaths of air, and turned his attention fully towards Pixel. "I know you're still in there, wake up."

Comet approached with a somewhat feral look still reflected in his eyes, as if he was unsure if the woman was a threat or an ally. He stepped closer, breathing deeply as if taking in her scent, a mix of a machine-like scent and something sweeter. "Pixel?" He blinked. "Weren't you stationed on the roof?" He looked back at Dorme and Jonathan, "and weren't you two at the first floor in case he tried to get away?"

"He's not going anywhere," Pixel voiced, looking towards the beaten psychic. "It looks like he fainted from his injuries.

"Looks like it..." Comet scratched his head in confusion then grinned at Jonathan and Dorme, "did you two rough him up?" The younger Rockets could offer no answer beyond an uncomfortable step back. Comet paused, looking at their frightened expressions with concern, "did I do something weird just now?"

"We'd best talk about it on the way back to HQ," Pixel suggested.

To be Continued

The female werewolf Dorme mentioned is Aayla from Don't Give Me diamonds, who was not actually a werewolf at all, but was mistaken for one... and she wasn't a furry either, she was a... Read the story if you haven't already and find out, either way, it's only a small reference that you don't need to understand in order to follow the plot of Awakening. I thought it would be nice to thrown in some continuity, even if it's just in small details. We all know James collects bottle caps... Johnny collects comics, but this story takes place in the future and paper is already outdated today as it is, so he collects them digitally. Of course, Dorme knows what an exabyte is because each generation is more technologically proficient than the last, so this is not an odd term for them. If you haven't heard it before, the most simple explanation is that an exabyte is a thousand petabytes, a petabyte is a thousand terabytes and I'm sure you can take it from there. The armor Pixel wears in this chapter looks kind of similar to Calhoun's armor in Wreck it Ralph.


End file.
